I am the first person to admit that the Indigo Girls are not usually in my playlists. I don’t dislike them, but musically, they are not my favorite sound. In 1988, they released their self-titled début album. The song “Closer to Fine” peaked at number 26 on the modern rock chart. Sometime in the early nineties (I’m guessing about 1992), I heard the track. It stuck with me enough that I recognize the song when it comes on the radio, and I don’t automatically change stations when I hear it.

Trust me, I’m going somewhere with this.

I’ve tried to work on TANKERS for a while now. I spent time developing characters, writing a first issue, restructuring the first issue a few times and swearing. I keep hitting a wall. I gave up for a while and worked on another project until I realized I was having the same problem.

I had a lot of cool stories, but they weren’t really going anywhere.

I’ve brooded about this for a few weeks. Today, the canned music at the restaurant I work at played “Closer to Fine.” The song is catchy, but the lyrics that have always resonated with me go like this:

Well darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable,
And lightness has a call that’s hard to hear

Suddenly, I knew where the story was going, how it was going to get there, and what I needed to do. I had a goddamn theme.

The point here, if there is one, is that inspiration comes from weird places, and every story needs a theme tying it together. Now please excuse me, I have to go write some things.