One sure way to get stabbed by any writer you interviewing is to ask them;
“Where do your ideas come from?”
The question has become so infamous for writers that rather than answer you’ll likely be laughed at and given a throwaway comment.
It’s because no one really knows where ideas come from and to say you do is a lie, that’s why this question corners the writer in an awkward situation.
However, this question is SO valuable for beginner writers, who are genuinely concerned about where they can get their ideas.
So a better question I am going to pose and answer is;
“Where can I look for inspiration for my writing?”
This is a more specific and answerable question.
What are Ideas?
To understand how to generate ideas you have to understand what an idea is.
An idea or creative concept is a result of mixing two or more ideas to create a seemingly unique one.
One thing of note here is in this way you can NEVER create a unique idea.
Because by the fact that it’s an idea means it has parts of other ideas built into it.
Now we can understand our first step in generating inspiration.
Step 1: Consume, Consume and Consume
Step 1: Consume
You can’t generate ideas without a bank of ideas you have already been exposed to.
If you try to create a unique idea without inspiration leads to terrible ideas based on common tropes and clichès.
So to avoid this you want to input lots of ideas for things you want to create.
If you want to create terrifying horror creatures like myself, consume lots of monster movies, classic horror books, and anything else you find interesting.
This type of consumption is different from mindless scrolling of TikTok and other media because you are purposefully analyzing and considering ideas that will show up in your writing sometime in the future.
I also highly recommend consuming stuff you wouldn’t usually gravitate toward.
Doing this allows you to understand what other genres and methods have to offer.
This leads to our second step. . .
Step 2. Reflect
Watching any media for educational purposes WITHOUT analysis becomes entertainment.
Any mindless consumption results in mindless ideas.
This is a common pitfall of the self-improvement genre. It’s very easy to consume and consume countless motivational and life-changing ideas but if you never reflect or put anything into play it’s all just education.
Don’t fall for this trap.
A system I use to avoid this trap is throughout the movie I am constantly critiquing the dialogue, the plot, and the way the story is told.
Not audibly but just taking notes in my head.
For example, I recently watched Rebel Moon Part One on Netflix.
This movie is beyond awful.
However, I learned A LOT from this movie. I learned the importance of relatable characters, the need to introduce characters properly, to have a well-designed plot, and to not lose sight of your character’s motivations.
Often I find that watching terrible movies and awful writing teaches me MORE than works of art.
It instills a fear that your work could be as terrible as this thing if you’re not careful.
That’s REALLY powerful.
Reflect in real-time as well as in your notebook after the fact if that helps you as well.
Next is the third and final step for inspiration.
Step 3. Regurgitate
Without this step, there’s no point in starting the process at all.
You NEED to write, to put what you learn into practice which also builds up your mental bank of ideas.
The best writers in the game such as Stephen King come up with awesome ideas often because not only do they consume and reflect they also CONSTANTLY write about their ideas.
The more you write the better you get at writing.
If you get better at writing not only can you write better ideas, better ideas will gravitate towards you.
Knowing what is a worthwhile idea to explore will result in countless awesome ideas seemingly appearing from thin air.
It’s IMPORTANT to consume, but its ESSENTIAL to write.
In Conclusion. . .
So where do ideas come from?
Well, they come from this cycle;
- Consume
- Reflect
- Regurgitate
I hope this has helped you in some way, but as I’ve described, you WILL forget this information if you don’t put into action.
So, write.
Write about anything and everything.
It’s your obligation to the world.
Thanks for reading.
Goodbye and Happy Writing 🙂
I post writing tips every day for you to enjoy, here’s my most recent one;
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