A Writer's Secrets to Catching Creative Ideas

Brad Herzog did a TED Talk (TEDx Monterey - running time 15:36) about A Writer's Secrets to Catching Creative Ideas. Every time I watch this talk (so far three times, but there will be more), I feel so inspired to write and to work harder on finding awesome ideas. I find him to be a very personable speaker, sprinkling in the perfect amount of humour and making me feel, almost instantly, a strong connection with him.

"Good writing begins with a great idea; an idea so compelling that an editor or publisher can't pass it up; an idea so compelling that a reader can't pass it by."

This doesn't just factor in when talking about writing. In fact, "we are often tasked with coming up with a unique way of looking at things." A way of looking at things differently that allows the everyday to become something more.

"Everything in my mundane daily existence can be fodder for a clever and creative idea. It's just a matter of sort of tilting my head at the world a little bit; questioning everything; and, what I like to call, wondering out loud."

WONDER OUT LOUD

- what if?

- who discovered/created that?

DROP MY LINE IN SOMEWHERE ELSE

- veer away from what's trendy right now

- choose a different style or genre or audience

COUNTER CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

- surprise people

- what if the opposite were true?

One of the suggestions that Herzog makes that resonates with me is "don't jump the gun on your idea. Let it percolate a bit, think about it for awhile, and essentially find the real story."

This is an important and often neglected tip. Our fast-paced world is often rushing us to find ideas and get things written. This can result in less than stellar ideas. "Often it takes a little bit of patience; that's part of the creative process. Sometimes that means not only finding the idea but waiting and figuring out how to convey the idea."

I once read a writing instructor who shared that when brainstorming a fiction novel idea, she would write out an entire workbook of what-if scenarios and see what the best ideas were. She never rushed this stage and reported that she often came up with 20 or 30 mediocre ideas before landing one that she believed to be spectacular. This is something that I have not done well in the past, but you can bet that it's on my radar now.

Herzog summarizes the idea process as follows:

conceiving the idea

developing the idea

conveying the idea

"If you can put that all together, sometimes you can catch something really special."

Listen to the TED talk that Herzog has put together. In it, he gives fantastic examples of his personal idea process and he illustrates his tips with his firsthand experience. 

Steal Like An Artist - Austin Kleon

I love this book. Truly love this book.

It is Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. It's an adorable format: 6-inch x 6-inch size with lots of doodles and drawings and tips. There are 10 chapters based on 10 tips to 'unlock your creativity'. My absolute favourite chapter is #4: Use Your Hands.

Kleon has two desks in his office. One is analog and one is digital. The analog desk is not allowed to have anything electronic on it. Instead, it is filled with markers, paper, newspaper, index cards. The digital desk has his electronics.

He says that "The computer brings out the uptight perfectionist in us -- we start editing ideas before we have them" and suggests that we create first, and then bring our pieces to the computer for editing and finishing.

This idea really resonates with me. Not to mention that once I get on the computer, I seem to get sucked into facebook and every thought of mine that needs to instantly be researched. Not terribly productive.

At the end of the book, he has a "What Now?" section where he suggests that you give a copy of his book away. I can't do it. This is the third time I've read it (it's a pretty quick read - 140 half pages, many of which are lists or drawings) and I get something out of it each time.

I recently listened to his TEDx Talk KC about this topic and gleaned a few more nuggets from that.

He believes that nothing is original. "Every new idea is just a remix or a mashup of 1 or 2 previous ideas." Takes the pressure off of having to come up with something nobody has done or seen before, doesn't it? He goes on to list some of the sources of ideas: friends, books, music, movies, cities you visit. On and on.

Source

You cannot, however, rehash previous ideas without first paying attention to them and collecting them. Kleon suggests carrying around a notebook (digital or paper) to record everything that appeals to you: phrases, photos, lyrics, thoughts, conversations, doodles, whatever. Only by compiling a library of potential tidbits, can you bring those thoughts together in new ways and into new art.

"It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things in to what you're doing." Steve Jobs

And finally, he suggests when stealing from other artists, "take something from them but bring it back to your desk, take it back to where you do your work, combine it with your own ideas and your thoughts, transfer and form it into something completely new and then put it out into the world, so we can steal from you."

As Kleon suggests on his webpage, this blurb is copied and pasted from his website:

Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of three illustrated books: Steal Like An Artist, Newspaper Blackout, and Show Your Work! His latest release is The Steal Like An Artist Journal: A Notebook For Creative Kleptomaniacs. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS Newshour, and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. New York Magazine called his work “brilliant,” The Atlantic called him “positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet,” and The New Yorkersaid his poems “resurrect the newspaper when everybody else is declaring it dead.” He speaks about creativity in the digital age for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist. He grew up in the cornfields of Ohio, but now he lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons. Visit him online at www.austinkleon.com

Starting Again - How to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

I haven't been writing. At all. I can't even seem to make myself do morning pages. When I looked at my journal this morning, I had written the date and nothing more for the last three entries. And none of those dates were consecutive.

Nothing in the well.

I've read about artist's dates and purposely doing outside activities to replenish the source of creativity, but somehow, nothing is working.

Iv'e noticed something else though, when my writing seriously dried up, I had also stopped painting and playing in my studio. No art journalling, no art classes, nothing. Coincidence? I'm thinking not.

So, here's the plan. Every day for the next 30 days, I am going to wake up and paint something or draw something, and then I'm going to write. My thought is that by feeding my artist's spirit with the gift of creativity prior to writing, well, the muse will be pleased and she will help the words come forth.

In addition to this new practice, I plan on sharing some creativity resources with you, once a week, on Mondays. There are so many tips and philosophies on how to be more creative, I think we could all benefit from examining them more closely.

Are you having difficulties with your creative expression? Does this sound interesting? I would love it if you would join me. Tomorrow morning, I'll post the art on Facebook and then follow-up with the writing the following morning. Please feel free to post your art or writing pics on the Facebook page as you make it through.