I need to develop a new strategy / process to generate writing topic ideas.

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Here’s what I have in mind:

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1. Read three things:

• Something New (Twitter, the news, etc.)
• Something Old (Wikipedia pages about a topic, classics, etc.)
• Something Fun (anything that piques my interest)

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2. Brainstorm ideas:

• Get out a notebook
• Make a list from 1-10
• Spend 10 minutes (no more, no less) writing any ideas that comes to mind

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3. Take a break:

• Focus on other work
• Go for a walk
• Do anything to get your mind off it

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4. Write:

• Review your ideas, and see which one creates the biggest spark
• Let that spark take you down a rabbit hole
• Do research as necessary, and finish writing the piece

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Thinking of ideas to write about is often the most difficult part of writing every day. Once you find the spark, everything else becomes easy. There are days when I don’t find the spark, and it essentially “ruins” my day because I have this dark cloud lingering over my head knowing that I’m entering my daily writing sessions unprepared.

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The great thing about this process is that I feel it can be applied to both non-fiction and fiction writing. Our writing output is only as good as our inputs, which is why Step 1 is so crucial. 

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Standby for the results of this experiment…