How are great ideas born?

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Kalyke

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Whenever I need a really good idea, I just get a fresh sheet of virgin paper from my desk and take out this old fountain pen I have hidden deep in the back of my drawer. It’s a 1932 Mont Blanc Ecrivain - with a cap and barrel made of glossy black pearl, and a nib made of rhodium.

I have one of those, but it is made of the crushed teeth of baby kittens, and I usually shove it up my nose to get the blood. I write on the dessicated livers of old mummies, and then scan them to save it to disc. By the time I've done with all this preparation, I usually forget the idea that got me interested in writing, so I go off and play jenga with a pair of spider monkeys until I get a new idea.
 

Izz

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so I go off and play jenga with a pair of spider monkeys until I get a new idea.
Spider monkeys are surprisingly good at jenga, i've found...

much better than baboons.
 
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Ken

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... very few are capable of having great ideas. I sure ain't. So for most, it's a matter of making do with so-so ideas, which are pretty yawn-able taken in and of themselves, but which can be made into good stories with much effort, thinking, and trial and error. For those like Rowling who have that ability to come up with great ideas it really isn't worth the effort to try to figure out how they do it. Genius like theirs is something that defies understanding. They just are great at what they do because they are great.
 

KiraOnWhite

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I think anyone can come up with a unique idea, but what truly renders them great and memorable are how they are developed.

Aside from that, I don't think you can wish for a great idea...they come when you're not asking for it. The best is to up the chances of coming up with one by thinking for ideas more actively.
 
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