CREATIVE TIP

I should spoof it harsh writing advice but I'm being serious.

You want to know how to come up with ideas?

It's not a quarter in the idea machine. ;)

First, you have to have time to let your mind wander.

This isn't easy to do. It's not easy to find space in which to do it. And this space varies for each person.

The shower isn't uncommon because it's a place of solitude, where people are not supposed to interrupt you,

where you don't have many other distractions and so you're alone with your thoughts that normally you hurl a bazillion things out to stimulate and silence.

But ...whatever. You have to figure out how to get into that space and make time for it.

And you have to play with what ifs and follow the threads.

Here's a great example from an SPC I recently enjoyed.

The core concept of this great series of stories, really hinges on this concept.

You're an X-FIles (sorry) or Men in Black type org. You keep the spoopy from the world so they stay sane and safe. What if you're facing an enemy you cannot see, you cannot percieve...and if you do

it INSTANTLY is aware of, and can see YOU. And will kill you. And anyone who has thoughts similar to yours, all your family. All your friends. All your co-workers.

How ...do you even BEGIN to fight?

And...friends there's a helluva story on one person's string of thoughts on that, and I really enjoyed it.

But that's literally a 'writing prompt' right there.

And YOUR answer to that, when you let your mind go awandering...will be different.

That's how you build ideas.

All the rest is a lot of fucking work and doing the work and discipline and slog.

So you see, ideas...

aren't even the hard part of writing or creating.

Any asshole can play with ideas. I do, you do. Everyone does. And some of those ideas are gonna be fucking brilliant.

But you gotta do the work. And some people are so adverse to doing the work, they pop an idea and then run to a creator

HERE! YOU MAKE THE THING!

THE IDEA IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SHINY AND MINE! BUT YOU CAN MAKE THE THING.

And it's like...ah the difference between giving birth and parenting. And look I'm not trying to be an asshole but I don't want your abortion.

Yes that's me being an asshole I know.

The work.

is.

hard.

But when you ask 'why does mediocre talent make so many things' its because they either have connections or...

they do the work.

AND YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO THE WORK.

It's also okay, utterly completely okay, to ...be a creative hobbyist. You don't have to monetize every fucking thing you do. And you don't have to make it your WORK either if that ruins it for you or ...isn't for you.

And it's even okay to have all these magnificent unwritten stories, unpainted art...

just in your mind's eye.

Just don't ever let fears keep you from creating for the sake of creating. And believe me, I speak from experience there. Oh yes. That first step is scary.

And when you create and release something professionally?

FAKE WHISPER: IT LIVES FOREVER AND OMG IT CANNOT BE PERFECT

(that's my bogeyman)

So yeah, don't let the fears fuck you up. Focus on any criticism that's CONSTRUCTIVE and better yet from experience.

And do the fucking thing if you want. If you fail and everyone does at times, so the fuck what.

YOU DID A THING and that's a damn sight more than most accomplish

PS ~ on the 'do not have to monetize it' side. That SCP I mentioned, along with the entire SCP series...

is a creative commons, no one owns it, and people write and release stories. For free. Some have a tip jar. Some sell merch. Some do it for sheer joy. All of which is okay.

And some are even, I THINK, currently making a living via their creative SCP work...via selling merch, podcasts, YouTube productions, patreon, etc.

And it's brilliant because it lets people who are good at it AND WOULD LOVE IT TO BE THEIR WORK...do so, while others can play

and the whole world is embiggened by it.

Goodness knows I'm harping about them as my example because of all the joy I'm getting out of it. But whether this, or fan fiction of Star Trek that can't be commercialized or whatever.