How I Get Ideas As A Writer
(My messy, slightly disorganized view behind my idea process).
While there’s no step-by-step guide as to how a writer gets ideas, every writer has a different method of doing so. The way our brains work isn’t going to be the same, nor will our creative process be the same. The point is, it’s okay that everyone’s process is different, and the most unique thing (I think) about the creative process is where creativity can take you. When I first began this blog a few years ago, I wrote a post titled Getting Ideas, where I talked about what getting ideas as a writer was like for me. This post, though-the one you’re reading right now-is essentially my updated version of that.
Ideas, at least for me, seem as though they can spark from anywhere or anything. There have been quite a few times where an idea has come to me out of nowhere, or during an inconvenient time for me-whether it’s while I’m sitting in class, on a long car ride, or surrounded by people at a social event. Ideas are constantly churning in my head, and as a writer, I feel like my brain never shuts off. It just keeps going without a care in the world. (That’s the best way I can articulate it). No one thing determines how I generate ideas, and it depends on what comes to me when an idea strikes. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that an idea doesn’t solely take shape in the form of just a premise, or just a plot device, or just a character. Sometimes, all three things can come together simultaneously. For example, when I got the idea for my fourth book, A Heart of Shattered Glass, the idea started off with the main characters, before quickly forming into a scenario, and then the overall plot. That’s exactly how it was like for me. I personally wouldn’t change my process for anything. Sticking to how I do things creatively is what works best for me.
Even though no one thing determines how I get ideas, and how I connect ideas together, I will say that the one thing that’s been very consistent for me is that ideas come to me in images. My imagination has become so vivid now that the only way I can describe it is that it’s as if a movie is unfolding in front of me. Usually, it isn’t the full movie, and is only snippets of it, whether it be a beginning scene, middle, or an end, this is how it is for me. My imagination is so vivid that the images I’m seeing or the sounds I’m hearing can consume me, occasionally putting me in a trance-like state, where that’s all I can focus on. The images I see are like fragments-montages-of something that could unfold into a bigger project. That is how it’s been for me, and I hope that what I’m trying to articulate makes sense. Strangely, I’m not the best at articulating my thoughts to other people, or on platforms like this blog.
The idea for this post came to me when I was looking through a notebook I’ve had for a few years now, where I mainly jot a lot of the ideas I have, regardless of how terrible some of them are. Strangely enough, I feel as though late 2015 to early 2016 were the times where good ideas started to generate for me-or at least ideas that I feel are decent, and not cringeworthy. I’ll admit that when I first began writing in that notebook some time in 2014, a lot of the ideas I had during that time aren’t ones I would personally consider pursuing or writing anytime soon, if at all. That’s just how I feel, when looking back on some of my earlier ideas I had back then, when ideas began coming at me more often, compared to when I was first starting out, as a new writer. (When I was a new writer, I didn’t generate nearly as many ideas as I do now). Regardless, I’m glad that I get to look back and see how far my ideas have come. One of my most favorite aspects behind being a writer, and about my creative process in general, is the idea phase. I love seeing what creations emerge from my brain, and how I connect them together/develop them, if I develop them any further, or just leave them be.
Despite writing all my ideas down in a notebook, the first thing I’ll do whenever an idea strikes me is write it down in my phone, and then transcribe it to a notebook later.. I do this because my fluency with typing is faster than it is with writing by hand. Writing an idea down in my phone first is very convienient for me, let alone easier. When writing an idea in my phone, I automatically put them in the Notes app, which is an app I’m constantly using. I understand, though, that the Notes app isn’t the most reliable place to jot down ideas or random thoughts into your phone, considering that you can sometimes have your notes deleted randomly (from what I’ve heard) but I like using it, nonetheless. (I’ve actually lost one of my notes on that app before, and it’s very frustrating knowing that I can’t ever get it back. A few years ago, I wrote a short story on the app titled The Baker’s Daughter, which was a short story I absolutely adored, and I was crushed to know that it had gotten deleted. But that’s a story for another day, and isn’t related to this blog post).
To me, ideas are a beautiful thing. Creativity in general is a beautiful thing. I have a lot of respect for creativity and the creative process as a whole, and I find learning about it to be addictive. (As a creative person and a lover of storytelling, I can’t help myself. This is a part of creativity that fascinates me so much). I can appreciate the significance behind it. Even if I’m the only one who thinks this, I think it’s amazing what creativity can do for people, and where it can take them, leading them to create whatever. The creative process truly is extraordinary, and holds no boundaries. Possibilities are endless, and that’s one of the many things I love about it.
In conclusion, I hope those of you who read today’s post enjoyed getting a peak into my idea process as a writer.