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This simple meditation technique works wonder  You can use it in any situation...

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Time is tricky. You have whole months, even years, when nothing changes a speck, when you don't go anywhere or do anything or think one new thought. And then you can get hit with a day, or an hour, or a half a second when so much happens it's almost like you got born all over again into some brand-new person you for damn sure never expected to meet.

— E.R. Frank, Life Is Funny

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#157: The More You Write, The More Ideas You'll Have

‘Where do you get your ideas from?’

There goes the infamous question. Writers hate it because they have no clue. Most of us would like to know. It would make things a lot easier. But that’s the way it is.

You exist, and at one point an idea sneaks inside your head. And a story begins.

When you get a particularly good idea – one that you really like – you start to be protective of it. You don’t want to waste it. Because you have no idea where it came from, you’re not sure how to replicate the process. This may be it. You may never have an idea as good as this one again.

And yet the muse keeps coming back.

Other writers have a slightly different problem. They seem to have no ideas at all – no clue where to start or what to write about.

One thing about ideas is that you have to learn to recognise them. If you’re just starting out, you will be blind to most of them. To see the ideas all around you, you have to write.

But how are you supposed to write when you don’t have any ideas? There are many ways – start writing fan fiction, use prompts. Don’t worry about where you end up, just get going.

I was in the same boat when I was starting this post series. I wanted to have a regular segment on the blog where I’d share what I learned and what was going on. I was procrastinating on it because I was worried about ideas. How could I possibly come up with a new topic to write about every week?

I sat down to think it through. A couple hours later, I had no more than a handful of topics to write about. But I started writing anyway, and here we are, almost 160 posts later. I’m nowhere near running out of things to write about. In fact, now I have a long list of ideas to choose from.

The more you write, the more ideas you’ll have. It’s counter-intuitive because that’s not what we’re used to in the real world. When you eat an apple, it’s gone. On the other hand, when you use an idea, you’ll have another one soon.

These days, almost every time I’m working on a post, I’ll have another idea or two that I add to my list. It rarely becomes shorter.

The problem is that I still can’t explain it. I don’t know why this happens, and whether it’s going to keep happening.

The only thing left to do is to believe. You have to learn to trust yourself that as long as you keep going, there will be more. That’s why there’s all this lore about muses and divine inspiration and whatnot.

If you’re feeling stuck, pick up a pen and write something. Get into the flow. It doesn’t have to be perfect or even good. You don’t have to publish it anywhere.

Pretty soon, you’ll have more ideas than you can handle.

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Past Editions

#156: Being a Good Storyteller is a Superpower, August 2020

#155: Do You Care About Your Stories Too Much?, August 2020

#154: A Better Way to Write, August 2020

#153: The Uncertainty of Being a Writer, July 2020

#152: Working with Creative Constraints, July 2020

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Quick reminder that we are going through a global pandemic right now, which is a major stressful event.

It is stressful even if no one you know is sick.

It is stressful even if you are working from home.

It is stressful even if you have no work / school responsibilities.

You are entitled to your stress. You may find yourself crying randomly, or getting randomly angry, or super tired, or bouncing off the walls, or unable to keep a thought in your head for more than 30 seconds. This is an expected stress response.

Give yourself a break. The world is not normal right now. Focus on just getting through it as best you can, utilizing whatever coping methods do the job. This is not forever. 

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