The Art of Finding Ideas

[snakeair]

I'm pretty much sure that all of you can add onto this blog post.

Every writer who has ever lived has lusted after ideas.

Where are they, how do I get them, and how do I keep them coming?

If you’ve been writing long enough, you know that — like Solomon — there is nothing new under the sun.

Try as you might to sweat them out of your head or pull them gently from the stars above, there are no new ideas.

So, relax.

But the page is not going to write itself, is it? Where then do we turn for ideas that work, ideas that move, ideas that persuade?

In short, we steal them.

The moment you free yourself from....

Continued at: http://www.copyblogger.com/find-ideas/

Please share your thoughts.

[ScriptMan]

Just my take. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting inspired by something someone else wrote as long as what you write is completely your own work. Spinning an article is the same as stealing.

Reading a dozen articles and writing your own is called research. That also is okay.

[snakeair]

I get all my idea's by surfing the internet just doing whatever. Then all of a sudden an idea pops into my mind for a product review. I can not just site down and say "I'm going to write an article in 10 minutes, the story will come to me by then." ... ummm i just let the idea's pop into my mind.

[georgegijo]

Understanding something in great details will enable you to produce stuff that's more interesting and easily digestible.

[Cricket]

Sometimes I get ideas through the questions that people ask me. If I am getting the same questions about something, it is time to write an article on it.

Other times I will browse the news or Facebook in hopes of an idea simply jumping out at me. This can be pretty effective.

Most of the time though, my ideas come from just living life and interacting with others.

It helps me to keep a lil tablet to write them down on to keep the ideas from disappearing into thin air the moment I am in front of a keyboard.

[akasheg]

I get my ideas by reading more and more stuff, articles, blogs and finding out the things that still haunt most of the readers.

Interacting with people and questions of others also bring me new ideas.

[dame016]

I get ideas when I read. But I don't copy them. I get inspiration from them.

And what inspired me to do tutorial blog posts is actually the things that people ask me. Or sometimes, when I research on how to do something and I succeed at doing so, I wrtie about it and publish it on my blog(s).

[eXtendiaIT]

You know, I not only loved the article, but also left my comment there. Want to share it here as well.

Yes! There are no new things on this world. Beleive me, however, every one of us discovers it and if it is really a discovery, it makes everyone else excited. For example, we all know about how important is listening. However, if we all of a sudden discover it in a real life experience that it helped and brought concrete results, we can share it, and that would become a discovery.

I like reading and listening to things that people experienced, rather then “stolen” ideas. “Stolen” means that you had never had hands on experience in some obvious truth.

This is what I shared there and it is my opinion.

[C.A. Perez]

Isn't it curious that words can have such negative connotations, like stealing? Now, I know the author had a twist on the word. Yet, he blatantly accuses all authors of 'stealing' their material from other sources since there is nothing new under the sun.

I have no argument with the fact that we, article marketers, do indeed do research and seek out sources for material which we then fashion under our own voice and give it a different look. If that is his definition of stealing, then I have no objections to this restricted use of the word 'stealing'. But, lest less scrupulous authors use this as a license to copy, I unequivocally abhor stealing by any other definition, commonly known as plagiarism.

One other thing, if originality were restricted to the regurgitation with your own voice of what is already out there, then authors in general have nothing new to contribute and may as well give it up. While this definition of originality may be true of article marketers, I challenge it as a definition that applies to all authors.

Kind of reminds me of the definitions and interpretations for 'spinning' and 'rewriting' an article.

[Davidwegs]

In writing, there are no new ideas… ? Well, Solomon may have said it, but that does not mean it's so.

I consider new ideas to be the inspiration from within, to tell something of use, interest, fun or anecdotal to someone else. The human experience is by its very nature, singular. Once a person passes this way or that, no one else can possibly accumulate or experience the things in the same way as that person. It's not possible.

So then, new ideas are a concept that is born from those wanting to give new inspiration to others for their journey through the experience they will have. Then from that experience is born a new story, perspective, or even idea.

Not every thing you read on the internet is true.

[Sprinkler Buddy]

I try not to post something that has already been said if I know it has. Think that is why I have writers block, I have read so much here and can't think of an original idea that hasn't been said a million times. LOL

I'm still here, just not nothing new going on in my head. lol

Thanks for the spark Snakeair, LOL

[18infomedia]

I try to get more information and ideas from the internet. Surfing internet is very useful and helpful for me to get new ideas.

[snakeair]

Originally Posted by 18infomedia

I try to get more information and ideas from the internet. Surfing internet is very useful and helpful for me to get new ideas.

Do you also have any feedback on the article i linked us to?

[Toma]

I guess some situations are less inspiring, so some are more. Find out which inspires you, and try to re-create it.
When I get a question in e-mail or chat, my answers just flow, quick, accurate and classy

Imagine writing to someone you care about.

[satti]

i watch movies, search pictures, listen to songs and sometime i focus on life as well, relate the stuff with all these things, collect the data in chunks from these and go on with my writing.
Also, imagination is one of the best part of carving an idea.

[~kev~]

A lot of my ideas come from looking over my camping, hiking, hunting, fishing gear,,, or from looking through pictures.

On average my wife and I take about 10,000 pictures a year. Lets say I need an idea for an article, I will pull up a month from my pic folder, lets take July for example.

During July I could be out on the local river doing some fishing, running trotlines, throwing a bar-b-que, or any other list of stuff.

I will grab a picture, then write an article around the image. If its a pic of my boat motor, I might write about how peaceful it is to be out on the boat.

[zohail]

Every person is not imaginative, some of them are able able to great stuff.But in my opinion life experience people ideas. Some people creates question of their own, when they start searching for answers, it the time when the ideas are produce.

[noelagnote]

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

Just my take. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting inspired by something someone else wrote as long as what you write is completely your own work. Spinning an article is the same as stealing.

Reading a dozen articles and writing your own is called research. That also is okay.

Including 5% of what you got from your research is fine but if you copied most of the ideas in your article that is also stealing.

[woodstockmck]

This article reminded me of something filmaker Jim Jarmusch said that resonated with me. I'll quote it here:

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.”

Finding things that speak to you, whatever that may be, and listening to what those things have to say--I think this is key for any creative endeavor be it writing, designing, etc. And being ready to get inspired at any time, cause you don't know when or where it might happen. The salient point in this blog post to me was that wherever the ideas come from, the trick is where you go from there to create something people will notice. Working--for years--to find your voice is what separates a professional creative from the rest of the crowd.

[balivillas]

Images and videos are some of the notorious examples of contents being subject for either content stealing, or idea inspiration. Say, most top vbloggers in Youtube use other youtube hit videos and add sidetrack "funny/political" comments to make their subscribers buy their "new stuff".