Whether it’s to organize ideas for a project (me); to have material to turn to for inspiration when you get stuck (Adam Alter); to save idea-sparks without getting distracted by them in the moment (Steven Johnson and Dan Pink); or to create a receptacle of fleeting impressions (Rachel Ingalls), I think having a repository for interesting things you... See more
The first step in any creative journey is collecting sparks of inspiration—the ideas, quotes, images, and links you love and don't want to forget.
But here’s the thing: When you find something that resonates, its use is not always immediately apparent. A line in a song might be the seed for your next coding project or inspire the title for the book ... See more
I’ll also use chunks as thought-starters for exploratory writing. In essence, I’m keeping an inventory of thoughts on my computer. I’m stockpiling ideas, stories, and prose
I feel like I say this to a lot of people, especially aspiring fiction writers. In my experience, it is really important to do two things.
One: You have to train yourself to notice things. It's not 100% natural at first – it certainly wasn’t for me – but raising those antennae is a very worthwhile thing to do. And it snowballs: once I got started ta... See more