Do You Write Every Day? How Do You Find New Ideas?
I recently received a very nice email from a reader asking me, among other things, a few questions about writing. I’m not sure if he wants me to use his real name so I’ve decided to call him Michelangelo (after my favorite turtle).
Here is a bit of what he wrote:
“I’m doing a challenge this January where I read a book a month, mostly biographies, and other sorts of stuff — I’m a student, so I have some time. But, I really want to get in the habit of writing. Even if for 5 minutes a day. How do you find so much to talk about on a daily basis?…”
Good question Michelangelo - let us ponder.
Talk
The more conversations I have throughout the day, the more fodder for the writing fire I collect.
People say the weirdest, craziest, funniest, saddest, most inspiring, disgusting, ingenious and stupidest things. You should be around as much as possible to hear them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written about the people I work with. They have no idea how many characters they’ve helped to create - and I’d never tell them. I don’t always use the admirable qualities in a personality.
Think
This is very closely related to conversations, only they’re internal dialogs. Conversations with your own personal muse. Daydreaming.
Most of us usually have a handful of reoccurring daydreams - have you ever written about them?
Read
The more you read, the more you have to talk to others about; the more fuel you acquire for thinking and daydreaming.
- Books
- Magazines
- Blogs
- Newspapers and News sites
- Stumbleupon
- Technorati
- Billboards, advertisements, brochures
There’s plenty of things to read. In fact, sometimes too much - I have well over 150 feeds in my RSS reader. Sometimes I have to shut it all down and just…
Sleep
Some of my wildest fiction originates from the dreams I have. Even if we can’t remember our dreams, sometimes it’s helpful just to reboot. I often find myself writing the most after a long nights sleep. Plus, sleep is a writers right hand man…or woman, depending on how you roll.
Senses
Pay attention to your surroundings:
- What does it look like?
- How does it smell?
- What can you hear?
- How does it feel?
- How does it taste?
This is one of those default “breaking the writers block” tactics - it works. And as a bonus, someone might come across you licking the sidewalk and start an interesting conversation with you. Let me know how that goes.
Shower
Anthony Robbins got it spot on:
“Don’t you ever realize that the most important things come to you when you’re in the shower and there’s no paper and pencil nearby? So I’m in the shower, I’ve got soap in my eyes - I’m just at that moment and all of the sudden, WHAM!…so I jumped out of the shower and I couldn’t find the towel, there’s soap in my eyes, I’m dripping wet, I’m running around naked looking for a piece of paper…I got a pen, found it and started scribbling like crazy. I sit there for the next hour and a half writing. I couldn’t stop writing…”
T.V.
This is probably the only time I’ll be in the pro television camp. You don’t even need to watch a whole show, just five minutes can really get your creative juices flowing.
…just don’t tell Cyan and Collis Ta’eed - I wouldn’t want them breaking a great resolution.
Don’t forget other media and entertainment as well: movies, home videos, music, video games (Phantom Hourglass and Puzzle Quest is my thing right now), etc.
Just Write
If you’ve done everything and you still can’t seem to come up with a topic, just write. Anything. It doesn’t have to make sense and it doesn’t even have to be in any known language.
However you find new ideas, just remember not to destroy your motivation before it has a chance to fly. You’re not too unexperienced to write, too young to write, too old to write, or too stupid to write. You just need to pick up the pen.
Do you write everyday? How do you find new ideas?
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
You had me laughing with the guy running from the shower naked with soap in his eyes to scout out a paper and pen.
Oh man, I can relate. I write everything down (mostly because I have a terrible memory). Everything gives me ideas, from a song playing on the radio in the car (pen and paper in the glove compartment) to standing on my porch late at night watching the stars (pen and paper in basket by door).
Thanks for the linkout.
I wonder if the people who struggle for ideas could imagine being away from your Significant Other(s) all day and finally walking in the door with nothing to say..
How could I NOT have something to say to my readers every day? Sheesh..
By the way, I’m the oddball. I write down nothing.. I keep it all in my head until I sit down at the ‘puter.. so getting ideas in the shower doesn’t upset me.
I do my best thinking in the shower! I always have. I always tell people that… I never thought to write it though.
But, when all else fails, a quiet stream and a comfortable rock with pen and steno pad in hand make good companions! I’ve concluded that anywhere there’s running water, I’m good.
Evelyn’s last blog post..Finding Hidden Treasures in the Travel Guides
@James - I just counted 13 pens scattered around my room…I think I need more.
@Tony - My head doesn’t work properly - the more thoughts and ideas I try to keep in, the more they want to run out. They do often come back though…even if it’s months later.
@Evelyn - That’s awesome Evelyn. I wish I could do that. I often need a bustling cafe or at least the sound of a freeway in the distance. Guess that’s what you get growing up in the city.
When I’m in a Zen-like place I don’t want to write, I just want to breath. Plus, running water puts me to sleep instantly…if I were a super-villain that would be my weakness.
This has been on my mind lately, and I’ve been writing about it on a few of my websites, lol. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one thinking, and writing, about it.
I receive ideas from a variety of sources; people, places, things. I started carrying a pen and pad with me because I don’t know when I’m going to become inspired. I want to be prepared.
For example, today when I was getting ready to leave the gym I saw a man that I’ve been keep missing when I’m there. We’ve been trying to get in some workouts together but are schedules have been off. Chatting with him and talking about how we kept missing each other gave me a great idea for an article so I rushed home and wrote it down.
Interesting that you mentioned sleep some of my best ideas for writing and other things have happened while I was sleeping. I make myself wake up and write the information down if I don’t won’t remember all the details.
Unlucky number, Jay… Go for two packs of 24. Cheap Bics.
As for inspired sleep… uh, no. I have wicked nightmares on a regular basis and prefer to avoid that.
@Opal - Weird. I was just at the gym and had a conversation with a woman who wanted to get together for some workouts…no inspiration for some writing though.
Opal I can’t tell you how many wicked awesome dreams I’ve had that have drifted to the uppermost regions of my mind because I was too lazy to force myself to wake up and write them down. But, when I do, it’s gold.
@James - Dude. Lay off the snacks before bed, especially the spicy ones. They cause nightmares. ;o)
@ Jay - No snacks. No drinks. Nothin’. I think my brain is broken. So tell us: You weren’t inspired for writing, but were you inspired?
Coming back to the original question, I realized yesterday that I do most of my best creative thinking while driving (after yanking my car back from the brink of sure snowbank death because I was driving off the road, not on it.) I enjoy driving quite a bit and it seems to encourage my mind to wander extensively, probably because I’m very relaxed and happy.
@ Tony - You’ve made me think quite a bit. Personally, I think it would be very nice to have an SO that you cared that much about that there was always something to say. Unfortunately, I don’t think many people have that. If you do, hang onto it.
James Chartrand - Web Content Writer Tips’s last blog post..How Tom Cochrane and Ice Hockey Teach to Be a Better Writer
Perhaps a little.
Most of the time I trigger my creative thinking mode when I’m supposed to be paying attention to what the person in front of me is saying. A very bad habit. But, I get away with it by telling them “I can’t help it, you’re just such an inspiration!” ;o)
It helps me a lot to have a way to capture future bits to work on. Backpack is wonderful for that–I keep little snips and ideas and fragments there. When I want to write, there’s always something to get started on.
Sonia Simone’s last blog post..Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”
@James:
I find my best ideas during driving too. I commute an hour day, so I have plenty of time to think.
Rudy’s last blog post..Web site performance
Me too Sonia. I just downloaded a really cool firefox addon that lets me save pages I find interesting and easily deletes them when I finish reading. It’s called Read it Later.
nice list of idea generating practices. i think writing is one of those things where you have to get inspired to do. sometimes u go thru dry spells. that’s why writing drafts is very important.
bloggernoob’s last blog post..Bloggers should help not hate
Firefox rules. So do its plugins.
Remember the Milk is great. Combine that with Google Calendar and you’re ready to rock n’ roll.
James Chartrand - Web Content Writer Tips’s last blog post..Priming Your Audience: The Power of Words
I like the Firefox plugins but don’t like what a gigantic memory hog Firefox is. There are a couple things I love it for, though–I use Session Manager to check through all my stats everywhere.
@Rudy, I get some good ideas driving as well, although my commute’s only about 20 min. of driving. A couple of times a week, I’ll put on some jazz and set myself on a problem (blog post to write, marketing plan to create etc.) and then scribble notes at red lights.
Sonia Simone’s last blog post..Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”
Great list. I usually use the “just write” method. It may take an hour or so before I write the first good sentence, but by then I can’t stop
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..Trusted Sneezing, Banner Ads, and Private Ads, Oh My
Nice post! Today I did a similar story about finding inspiration for posts. Check it out here: http://www.learnhow2earn.com/2008/01/25/how-do-you-prepare-for-a-post/
Nick’s last blog post..how do you prepare for a post?
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That’s all good advice.
However, if you are going to write about writing, write well. “Everyday” and “every day” mean different things.
Ain’t that a bitch. Fixed.
Good GOD! JAY! Have you revealed you’re HUMAN?
*falls off chair* My world will never be the same.
James Chartrand - Web Content Writer Tips’s last blog post..Entrecard Impressions
Nope. Just a malfunction in section Q35. Grape juice accident. …*ZZzzzwamp*
[…] I think of my next post while I’m writing a new one as well as before and after. Inspiration comes from anything and everything for me. I can be eating grapes, blowing my nose, flying a kite, picking my nose, eating a sandwich, looking at the next door neighbor though my open window…it doesn’t matter, the muse strikes whenever it feels inclined to. However, you can goad him/her on - I’ve written about some ways to do that. […]
I believe thinking and reading are the two most important ways to come up with things to write about. Thinking alone makes my head explode. I think about the issues I write about on my blog for long periods of time, and I always come up with new ideas, new issues, extensions of existing posts, etc.
Flimjo’s last blog post..Buffett-isms: The Wisdom of Warren Buffett
True, if you dwell on a topic long enough you could write a book on it. :o)
You got me rocking with laughter. You sure have a good sense of humor. The message is passed. Thanks. I guess I no longer have excuse for not posting as often as I ought.
Rather I should be struggling not to post too much 
NaijaEcash’s last blog post..Why you should start your online business with a blog?
I do most of my thinking in the shower i thought it was strange how ideas follow with water running down your body and soap in your eyes.Good to know that i am not alone on that one.You can get ideas from everywhere and everything around you.
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This is a nice read. Definitely covers good tactics that writers use. My top favorites that get me going are reading, thinking, and just writing… need to work on the spontaneous conversation part though - people do have the weirdest stories that sometimes trigger a writing topic.
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