How much time do you spend generating ideas?

It's hard for me to say what the exact ratio is, since sometimes in my case the research, idea generating and writing get all mashed together. I'll be interviewing, for example, and get an idea for a new article, or I'll be researching and some wording will occur to me so I will begin writing without continuing with the research.

One thing I have found about idea generation is that I tend to do a lot of that in little increments of time. I'll be on hold on the phone, for example, and I'll get an idea so I'll write that down. I don't really have a set time to come up with ideas because my idea book gets all filled up before I even sit down at the computer.

It's an interesting question, cress -- I'm looking forward to reading everyone's responses.

I spend my whole life dreaming.

I just went to a round table discussion with several full-time freelancers, and they all had the same conclusion. If you are going to freelance full-time, then your full-time job is not writing, but looking for work - researching, querying, etc. It was a very eye-opening discussion.

Ideas come at all times. I have a full-time job, but I jot things down so I don't forget. Then when my son's in bed for the night, I start the writing/querying/sending. I also use my lunches for writing, job search, etc.

I'm really not sure. Ideas come at odd times for me, many inspired by my children. From about 8 am until 2pm I spend writing and looking for work, Mon-Fri.

Nights are reserved for spending time with hubby or relaxing...if I haven't had some sort of brainfart super idea that needs to be written right then.

You can get ideas on how to work from other freelancers, but I've found that a mish mash of all the advice used in your own fashion works best. I wish Jennifer Chait still came by (Jenfreedom), she had a system once that stunned and inspired a lot of us. DebNg (Deb Ng on Freelance Writing Jobs) has great advice on her board for this type of question, too.

Like many others who posted, I don't really have a set "look for ideas" time, they come to me when they come to me. A lot of times, I'll research in the morning, during lunch or at night when I'm too tired to write.

That's part of the reason I hate billing hourly rates. I also tend to get sidetracked during research and research for one project will lead to something completely different.

Dawn

Great thread!!

I was sort of wondering about that too...

I'm just looking into freelancing, haven't really done it for a while... Sometimes I write (simpler) articles or such fairly quickly, sometimes it seems to take ages...

Actually some writers (of fiction too) have said in interviews they preferred having at least a part time job besides writing, because it helped them structure their time better.. They had different amounts of time/pages assigned for writing...
Maybe a similar system could work for writing articles too?

Will be curious to see what other people actually doing this full-time write..

Hmm, I don't have a real system yet. But I have several notebooks scattered around the house and in my purse, because ideas hit me at odd times. Something I hear on the radio or tv, something my kid says. Friday I made a list of how-to ideas while fixing dinner. If I sit down at the computer to come up with an idea, they don't come. I have to let them sneak up on me.
And I get a few ideas from friends. Let your friends know that you're writing, they may give you some leads!

I've found that if I sit too long thinking of ideas I don't come up with anything very good. Its better to train yourself to think of ideas as you're out and about - driving down the highway, sitting waiting at an office, walking the dog. Then it doesn't feel like time is being drained from your day, and with the change of scene / environment you might find ideas flow easier.

well cress8, seems the first thing you need to do is carve out writing time for yourself. When I first wanted to publish my work three years ago, I had a ft job, ft school, and was a ft mom. I used my commute to and from work to do schoolwork. Sometimes lunch was dedicated to schoolwork too. I made it a habit to carry a notebook with me to take notes through out the day. Even a post it can work as long as you transfer it to a notebook later. Try this first. Write down your schedule for a week in hours. How many hours do you spend eating sleeping working commuting, etc? Then look for time-wasters such as tv time. When I did this I found that I watched way too much tv. Try that and see if it works. Hope this helps.