How to Always Have Ideas for Writing
The only way to become a better writer is to write. Whether your passion is programming, music or publishing a fiction book, you should write regularly if you want to polish you writing craft.
Small habits and changes today lead to big changes over time. So the next 5 ideas will not make you a new Hemingway overnight, but if you continue to practice them, you will become much better writer over time and expressing yourself and your passion will become effortless.
1. Read. A lot.
The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries. - Rene Descartes
Famous American Entrepreneur Jim Rohn once said that every person is an average of the five people he spends the most time with. So if your friends like to go to the gym and they take great care of what they eat, chances are you're a pretty healthy fella yourself. If your friends play video games and eat chips all day, there's a big chance you live in your comfy chair as well.
Obvious question is how to be successful and productive if your friends and family lead boring, unfulfilled life. What if you don't have mentors that inspire you?
Best way to adopt fresh ideas, healthy mindsets and habits of successful people is to read books. Instead of learning from your own mistakes, learn from the mistakes of others.
Besides equipping you with new knowledge, reading books will improve you analytical thinking, expand your vocabulary and sharpen your writing skills. When you let your mind and imagination open as you absorb the book, your creative juices will start flowing and you'll end up with bunch of new ideas for your own writing.
So instead of checking Facebook every 10 minutes, watching tv or reading news, take a good book or put on headphones with an audiobook ready and hit play.
2. Go on a morning run
Our brains have to power to regenerate and heal. Neuroscientist Dr Fred Gage from the Salk Institute in the US discovered that exercise of any kind causes brain to create new cells. And this might be caused by the nature of humans' earliest ancestors. Hiding from predators or supplying food, they were forced to search and explore new environments causing the creation of new brain cells.
Unlike common opinion, physical exercise actually generates energy. Motion creates emotion. At the end of your run or just a walk you will feel much more energized, motivated and ready to tackle that article or a novel of yours.
By hopping on this morning quest and putting earphones with your audiobook playing, you kill to birds with one stone. If you kind of don't like running, listening to audiobook or a podcast will inspire you and make your jog much more enjoyable, while giving you plenty of new ideas you can write about.
Which leads us to...
3. Get Into the habit of taking notes
Think of the times when most of your big ideas visit you. Most likely it happens when you are doing something menial, some activity that does not require a lot of your brain power. Like taking a shower, doing the dishes, walking in the park or countryside. But most people fail to capture this thoughts and ideas as they come. The truth is these valuable thoughts will vanish in the ether quickly after they appear if you fail to write them down.
That's why you should always have Evernote or your paper journal with you. Because, you don't want to keep everything in your head. Things get lost or forgotten, and the search algorithm is not that reliable.
Write down as much as you can. After you are back from the morning run, full of thoughts and ideas from that audiobook you've been listening, write down everything you remember. Before you even take a shower. As you are reading the book on the subway on the way home, highlight interesting quotes and paragraphs and journal them later.
These quick notes become your most valuable asset later on, when you are preparing to write something and you're searching through this database of wisdom.
4. Find passion within your industry
Your blog posts should be based on topics you are most interested in. Be passionate about your industry, whichever that may be.
Think of what excites you the most. What's your greatest skill? If you are passionate about online marketing, you can write thorough guides for people who are entering the biz. You can point at often made mistakes. Create new products you can write about.
Keep up with the latest trends in your area of expertise. Follow successful blogs and podcasts, read books, go to seminars. Invest in accumulating knowledge and new skills. Get outside your department and find inspiration from other industries that are ahead of their time.
5. Follow Alternative Paths
But I always liked side-paths, little dark back-alleys behind the main road- there one finds adventures and surprises, and precious metal in the dirt. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Stay away from routines. Run from what's comfortable. Travel to new cities and places. Don't eat in the same restaurant every time. Try out different flavored latte next time you're in Starbucks. Take alternative path on your way from work whenever you can. Admire the landscapes. Take photos of beautiful architecture. Wherever you are, always feel like a tourist.
Forget safety. Explore the unknown paths. Challenge your comfort zone. Every day think of something you are afraid of. And go do it.
Don't seek approval and recognition from others. By living a diverse, authentic and extraordinary life your stories will write themselves.
Everything is hard before it is easy. So be consistent in writing. Even when your articles pass unnoticed, even when you feel like nobody's reading. Create a habit of writing every day. It will transform your life.
Thanks for reading! Stay updated about my future posts by following @alcibiades.
hmm, other than reading, I don't follow any of your suggestions. I'm not saying they don't work for you, but my inspiration comes from my subconscious. I'm always running a narrative in my head--about everything. Also, it helps to have practiced the craft for many years to be able to communicate those big ideas when you finally have them LOL!! Good post
Subconscious mind is very powerful and habits above can help and boost it. Of course, to communicate ideas well one must get into habit of regular writing. But that's I believe a different topic. :)