How do you get your ideas?
- Thread starter Rushie
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An idea, like sh!t, just happens. In other words, I see no predictable set of circumstances that lead to good ideas, but that's just me. Most of my good ideas just come from life.
I get ideas from just about anything. I actually got an idea while I was washing the dishes one night. I was rinsing a plate, and, BAM-it hit me.
I usually read books and think about ideas whenever I can. Mostly I read books to inspire me, to get me thinking about the next big thing. I'm still working on it.
I usually read books and think about ideas whenever I can. Mostly I read books to inspire me, to get me thinking about the next big thing. I'm still working on it.
I never have an idea just pop into my head. I hear a song, a line of conversation, see two people interact, constantly steal from real life and I let all these snippets just simmer in my mind until various little scenes start gluing themselves to others, and the scenes become bigger scenes, they become set pieces, I imagine characters and...I start writing.
There's no option for "other".
My best ideas are always combinations of things that have been stewing in my creative unconscious for some amount of time--sometimes minutes, sometimes years. They generally don't pop out unless I've decided I need an answer and then do something to distract my conscious mind from figuring it out and mucking up the process.
Anything that just pops out in my head uninvited gets tossed to the back to stew for a while.
My best ideas are always combinations of things that have been stewing in my creative unconscious for some amount of time--sometimes minutes, sometimes years. They generally don't pop out unless I've decided I need an answer and then do something to distract my conscious mind from figuring it out and mucking up the process.
Anything that just pops out in my head uninvited gets tossed to the back to stew for a while.
This is a pretty good description of how I get mine. This is my first poll and I was trying to get it together, didn't know my post would be up before the poll was. I was trying to see if there were any methods people used to make ideas come more readily.
Usually I get ideas at the most inopportune moments, like during class or while I'm supposed to be doing homework. Like this morning, for example, I was writing a paper and had a *potentially* brilliant idea for a shortie. But I've found that going on long walks, going into the city for a day to watch people, or just eavesdropping on conversations in Starbucks for a few minutes gets my mind working.
Still, there's no one-way road to idea-land. You gotta find what works for you and run with it. Sometimes ideas just won't come and you have to wait... other times you'll nearly drown in idea-overload.
Still, there's no one-way road to idea-land. You gotta find what works for you and run with it. Sometimes ideas just won't come and you have to wait... other times you'll nearly drown in idea-overload.
I get them from pictures. Seriously. The tumblr sites are totally indie, and spark my creativity. Though most the time I get my ideas when I'm very emotional.
I don't ever have idea come "on demand" so to speak. But I've never really found that I was without a good idea.
There is no specific method that produces ideas. Sometimes I hear a song and it gets me thinking. See something happen. Have a weird dream. Just kind of depends.
But they always keep coming.
There is no specific method that produces ideas. Sometimes I hear a song and it gets me thinking. See something happen. Have a weird dream. Just kind of depends.
But they always keep coming.
Usually out of a clear blue sky (although I suspect they're just observed things bolting themselves onto other things that have been stewing in the dungeon for awhile).
I am finding - annoyingly - that trying to finalise one book is giving me idea-overload on every other project but the one I'm trying to kick into submission stage. It's so perverse and such an obvious attempt by my subconcious to avoid doing anything resembling work that I'm thinking I need to give it a beating.
I am finding - annoyingly - that trying to finalise one book is giving me idea-overload on every other project but the one I'm trying to kick into submission stage. It's so perverse and such an obvious attempt by my subconcious to avoid doing anything resembling work that I'm thinking I need to give it a beating.
For me it's most often when I'm in the front passenger seat of the car when driving at night, when there is a comfortable silence between me and the other person in the car, and music is playing. I tend to zone out, listen to the lyrics and music and watch the road. That time of being relaxed and thinking about my writing is when I get lots of ideas for new directions, new images, new scenes, etc.
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I get them completely at random. I think probably pieces of the idea stew in the back of my mind for days, but it's not until something comes along to tie it all together that I feel like the idea has come to me. And this can be triggered by anything, even something that has nothing to do with the idea.
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I would have checked many of those answers. Or maybe it's all of the above.
Mainly, it's the "What-if" Fairy. What if...?
Mainly, it's the "What-if" Fairy. What if...?
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I get ideas that seem to come from nowhere. They sit in the back of my head for anything from a few days to years - which is when I usually realise I'm wrong in thinking they came from nowhere. They came from a throwaway remark made by a friend, a memory of something I'd thought I'd forgotten or just a simple what if?
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I get most ideas from music. Usually music will spark an emotion or a philosophy or viewpoint that I want to express through words.
That's interesting, that I've never analyzed where my ideas for stories come from. They come from deep, deep, deep, deep....
Well, it's too dark to see that deep. But you know, somewhere in that general vicinity.
Well, it's too dark to see that deep. But you know, somewhere in that general vicinity.
Very interesting answers. I could have given more choices, like listening to music. I debated whether to check the "more than one" option but I wanted to know the best way you got ideas, not necessarily all the ways.
There's an old saying that goes something like,
"All artists steal. Great artists not only steal, they tell you who they stole from."
So, I figure I steal all my ideas. The problem is I don;t know who I'm stealing them from (in most cases).
"All artists steal. Great artists not only steal, they tell you who they stole from."
So, I figure I steal all my ideas. The problem is I don;t know who I'm stealing them from (in most cases).
Most of my ideas come from daydreaming, which I often do when riding the bus or train but not only. So I picked the "I only get good ideas when I am feeling rested and relaxed and feel free to daydream " as a loose fit, as I find it difficult to daydream if I'm tense.
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