Choose to Take the Journey

This post is a continuation of Part I: Inspiration and it is meant to be read in order.

Part II: Ideas

A fire needs not only oxygen to continue burning, but also fuel. Even the most formidable conflagration can be extinguished by a lack of lumber. If you are to take photos, what concepts will you seek to capture? If you wish to make movies, what stories will you tell? If it is songs you desire, what motifs will you compose? Once you feel that inspiration, that urge to create, you will need ideas to fuel your fire. Even a gym rat needs to come up with novel ways to reinvent his routine.

Sometimes it’s difficult to get those creative juices flowing, especially when that sponge between your ears may feel all dried up. Here’s what I do to overcome my own periodic writer’s block:

1. Free write.

Write continuously, without pause or hesitation, whatever pops into your head. Do so quickly and without any respect for rules, spellign, or even grammar. No filter. Just vomit your every thought onto the page without passing judgment. Speed is critical to bypass obtrusive doubts that sap creativity and to relieve excess pressure that burden the imagination. Have you ever felt so tense you couldn’t solve the simplest of problems? Pick up a pen, let go of the outcome, and allow the solutions to spill out onto the paper. Writing is not just for writers. I suppose you could also extend this idea to “free paint,” “free sculpt,” or even “free cook,” but I’m not so sure I would sit down at your dinner table in the last case.

2. Keep a journal.

When I used to dabble in poetry, I kept a notebook with me for scribbling down any mildly interesting idea I had. Nowadays for my blog, I just tap away at my smartphone. Better to collect your ideas gradually and revisit them when you have time than to wring out every last drop of juice in a single creative session.

3. Bounce ideas.

Share your thoughts with someone. An idea might be so vague, it is nothing more than a feeling or a mental picture. By forcing yourself to verbalize it to another human being, even if he or she offers little input, by the time it leaves your mouth and gets back to your ears, your idea may have become a lot more concrete and realizable.

4. Ask the right questions.

I’m not sure what the professionals do, but I like to ask myself 3 questions. What am I trying to communicate? How else can I say this? How can I make this more interesting? Whether you’re telling a story or painting a picture, ask the right questions and you will have a never-ending supply of tinder and timber to sustain your fire’s growing appetite.

//Stay tuned for the last post in the series, Part III: Discipline!