Are you a writer? A communicator? A thinker? A problem solver? Do you need to come up with great ideas? Yes, you are. Yes, you do. Let’s learn how to find these great ideas! Please note that this page indeed discusses getting ideas for writing. However, as a whole, it’s about getting ideas in general.
Getting ideas is both a simple task and a difficult task. It’s simple because we all have ideas running through our heads constantly. It’s difficult because we all want to say and do meaningful and worthwhile things. When we write, we constantly face this burning question: What’s my point?
We have lots of ideas, but what’s our point? What are we trying to say? That can be a challenging idea to identify. Since we usually make multiple points on multiple levels in writing, this problem doesn’t go away.
» Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. — John Steinbeck (1902–1968), author
Getting Ideas: The Basics vs. Advanced Idea Generation
We will start simply. As we progress, we will explore where the great ideas come from. To be clear, I’ve never heard of anyone who sat down with the intent of coming up with a great idea and came up with one. Sometimes, great ideas just come to us. Other times, people must keep at it until they come up with one.
Now, let’s discover how people get their great ideas!
Where Do Our Ideas Come From?
In general, our ideas all come from the same sources. Here are the main ways we get our ideas:
» Experience, reflection, learning, knowledge, research, reading, watching, listening, discussion, dreams, observing, springboards, other ideas, thought experiments, synthesizing, combining, imagining, thinking, brainstorming, and other idea-generation techniques.
Prewriting: The Key to Getting Ideas for Writing
Some writers say writing is rewriting. Others say writing is prewriting. No one says writing is writing. In reality, writing is prewriting, writing, and rewriting. Our best ideas do not sit on the tip of a pencil. Our best ideas come from many ideas, along with deep thinking and reflection. As I always say, freewriting is prewriting.
» The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas, and throw the bad ones away. — Dr. Linus Pauling (1901–1994), scientist
» If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied. — Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833 –1896), inventor of dynamite, founder of the Nobel Prizes
One of the keys of Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay is that it has two levels of prewriting built into the system, all connected by the incredible A, B, C Sentence ™. Put simply, the program directly connects students’ prewriting to their writing in a way that makes sense to kids.
Here are a few standard prewriting techniques:
» Brainstorming, mind mapping, graphic organizers, storyboarding, free writing, journaling, listing, clustering, outlining, prompt analysis, questioning, learning, researching.
This sums up getting ideas for most school writing. In school writing, students must get and communicate the best ideas possible in the time they have. The techniques they use to get those ideas are limited by the constraints of the writing situation, along with the techniques and strategies they have been taught.
Getting Ideas as We Live Life: The Shower Effect
Many people have commented on getting their best ideas in the shower. In fact, it’s now known as the “Shower Effect” and various other names. The Shower Effect refers to the notion that people often get their best ideas or solutions to problems while engaging in mundane, routine activities, such as taking a shower, going for a walk, exercising, or doing household chores.
Although not fully understood, the Shower Effect is backed up by science. We often come up with our best ideas when we are not trying to come up with them. We think about and ruminate on our topic as we live our lives, and great ideas simply pop into our minds. The fact is that our minds keep working on problems and issues as we live our lives. Many people have said things similar to these quotes:
» The best time for planning a book is when you’re doing the dishes. — Agatha Christie (1890-1976), author
» All the really good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow. — Grant Wood (1891-1942), painter
» I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden. — John Erskine (1879–1951), educator and author
Here is the process in brief: Think about a problem or goal deeply and purposefully, and then go out and do something. As you do things, (1) pay attention to the ideas that pop into your mind, (2) record your ideas, and (3) save the good ideas.
Getting Ideas While We Sleep: Putting the Subconscious Mind to Work
Sleep on it. This wisdom may be as old as time. It works for two reasons:
1. Time: Sleeping on things helps us gain new insights and make decisions with more clarity. It gives us more time to think and allows strong emotions to settle, making our thoughts more logical and rational.
2. The Subconscious Mind: Sleeping on it makes your subconscious mind work for you. It helps you develop new ideas and solve problems without trying while you sleep.
Napoleon Hill (1883–1970), Thomas Edison (1847–1931), and Albert Einstein (1879–1931) all believed in harnessing the power of the subconscious mind to come up with great ideas, develop new insights, and solve problems.
In Think and Grow Rich (1937), Napoleon Hill said that by focusing on a problem or goal before bed, your subconscious mind will work on it while you sleep. This technique, known as “auto-suggestion” or “the law of attraction,” can help you find solutions and achieve success. Hill believed that feeding your mind with goals, challenges, and problems to solve before sleep could harness the power of your subconscious. Additionally, Hill liked to have discussions with his “Cabinet of Invisible Counselors” right before bed. Some of the greatest minds in history would come to him in his dreams with valuable insights.
Thomas Edison said plainly: “Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”
In short, think of a problem or project you are working on right before bed and ask for great ideas or solutions while you sleep. You have absolutely nothing to lose! As I write this, I am chagrined that I have not used this technique as much as I should have. When I do use it, I always feel like it was time well spent. I suppose the problem is that you must take the time to think of what is most pressing in life right before bed when you are most tired. By the way, I just put a note on my bed. I am making this a habit starting today!
Final Note: This subconscious mind strategy is effective time management. Even if it doesn’t work, you have not wasted any time. Thinking about something is not wasting time. If it does work, your subconscious mind will have pondered important matters on your behalf for many hours.
Idea Generation: Great Ideas and Creative Thinking
Albert Einstein (1879–1931) famously said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” I recommend clear, logical, organized, and rational thinking for most things in life. But when this kind of thinking is exhausted, and our goal is still unrealized, we must begin to think outside the box.
For example, when helping someone look for something recently, I said, “Well, now it’s time to start looking in all the places it can’t be.” In short, I know when it’s time to start thinking differently. And yes, we found the item in the strangest place.
Here is a list of words related to creative thinking or thinking outside the box. Remember, innovative thinking is often essential for discovering solutions or great ideas.
» Innovative, inventive, original, resourceful, artistic, creative, imaginative, forward-thinking, inspired, visionary, novel, cutting-edge, pioneering, nontraditional, unorthodox, radical, trailblazing, groundbreaking, unconventional, outside-the-box, progressive, fresh, revolutionary, diversity of ideas, divergent thinking, counter-intuitive, the elusive obvious, multiple possibilities, considering various perspectives, lateral thinking, critical thinking.
Please spend one more minute with those words. Now, let’s look at the types of situations and careers where these types of thinking often play a critical role in creating success.
» Problem-solving, innovation, invention, scientific discovery, design, artistic endeavors, creative endeavors, strategic planning, negotiation, driving change, marketing, branding, entrepreneurship, crisis management, conflict resolution.
I’m not sure that our goal is ever to be creative. Our goal is to discover great ideas, and we often need different ways of thinking to do so. The goal of thinking outside the box is not to think outside the box. We think outside the box because the answer does not lie inside the box.
Here are four books on creative thinking that I have read or listened to.
- The Creative Thinker’s Toolkit (2014) by The Great Courses and Professor Gerard Puccio
- Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques (1991) by Michael Michalko
- Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step (1970) by Edward de Bono
- Six Thinking Hats (1999) by Edward de Bono
Let me be clear. Many topics are far more valuable for most people than this kind of creative thinking. In particular, any book on critical thinking or logical argument will provide more benefits to most people. I strongly urge everyone to check out Academic Vocabulary for Critical Thinking, Logical Arguments, and Effective Communication. By reading it just once, you will change the way you think and communicate forever. I guarantee it!
Great Ideas in Creative Writing: How Creative Are They?
I’m going to put academic writing aside for this part. Let’s deal with creative writing, and in particular, stories. Sherlock Holmes himself said, “Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence.”
In short, history is shocking! Real life is shocking! Is it creative to see what exists in the world? It requires a certain kind of thinking, but I’m not sure it’s creative. To be fair, creative or inspired thinking is always an aspect of the best thinking. But it’s not usually the most important thing.
I’m not against creativity. I’m just saying that true creativity or outside-the-box thinking is not always required. Most situations require logical and strategic thinking. We could argue that choosing the best ideas is always a creative process. But it’s also a logical process.
Let’s look at three aspects of creative writing that are not exactly creative.
1. Observation and Reflection
If you are willing to be reflective and think about what you know and have experienced, you will always have something valuable to say. True revelation and personal insights are rare and valuable.
2. Knowledge of Strategies and Techniques
Here is a storytelling technique that will always stick in my mind: “Give them what they expect, but not the way they expect it.” We can generate ideas and build a story around that idea. Although it requires a different way of thinking, it’s not exactly creativity.
Storytelling is an art, craft, and science. I would never write a full-length story (again) without having a solid grasp of storytelling fundamentals. If you value your time and effort, you are better off learning strategies, techniques, and story structure than seeing what you can produce without them.
3. Prewrite, Write, Rewrite: 10% Inspiration, 90% Perspiration
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” So, I’ve likely overrated the inspiration part. The point is that coming up with ideas in writing is hard work. All forms of writing involve three steps of idea generation: prewriting, writing, and rewriting. At every stage, we must research, reflect, synthesize, and think, think, think. Just getting rid of the bad and unnecessary ideas is hard work—and painful.
Words represent ideas. Writers often have to research certain words before they use them just to make sure they are the right words for the right ideas—and that’s just words! What about the ideas? It’s a constant process of confirming that the ideas in mind are valid and worthwhile. In short, most writing doesn’t require thinking differently. It requires logical, clear, and accurate thinking.
Once again, check out Academic Vocabulary for Critical Thinking, Logical Arguments, and Effective Communication today. It will change the way you think and communicate! I guarantee it!
