Summary

The article discusses strategies for maintaining a continuous flow of creative ideas by feeding the subconscious mind with knowledge, being observant, and diligently recording ideas.

Abstract

The author of the article emphasizes that creativity is not about having entirely original ideas but rather about refining initial thoughts through personal experience to create something unique. To keep the stream of ideas flowing, the author suggests engaging in activities that stimulate the subconscious mind, such as reading and observing the world. The mind's natural tendency to find patterns plays a crucial role in this process. The article also stresses the importance of being prepared to capture ideas as they arise, as they can be fleeting and easily forgotten. By developing an effective idea management system, creatives can ensure that their inspiration is not lost.

Opinions

The author believes that our subconscious mind is constantly working to generate ideas, even when we are not actively engaged in creative work.
Artists are seen as inherently observant, with a desire to represent their experiences through their chosen medium.
Ideas are described as transient and require immediate recording to prevent them from being forgotten.
The author expresses a personal goal to write about a deja-vu experience and is excited about the potential impact of such a piece.
Walking is recommended as an activity that can help clear the mind and inspire creativity, with the author personally finding it beneficial for generating ideas.
The author acknowledges the struggle of not having a structured system for managing ideas and plans to share their own method once developed.
The article is part of a series documenting the author's 100-days streak of content creation, indicating a commitment to a consistent creative practice.

3 Ways How Some Creatives Never Go Out of Ideas

Your subconscious is hungry for knowledge. Feed it.

You will probably never have an original idea. You often come with a naive one, drill down to refine it, and after multiple iterations, you come up with something worth showing to the world. Something which you think only you can show because it came from your personal experience. That’s why it is unique, right? Because you trust it with all your heart.

I often read whenever I am out of ideas. Damn it! I always read when I’m out of ideas! Today, I was reading a blog about idea management system. It popped up as a recommendation on Medium.

Since it was a practical method, I couldn’t finish in one sitting because some concepts were hard to digest if not reflected right back then. By “reflect”, I mean taking some time to experiment with it because practical advice is just that — to trust it, you have put your work into it.

While reading, I realised how our mind wanders even when we are not actively training the creative muscles. That’s because our subconscious is already at work when we are not busy with our muse.

1. Brain finds patterns

The reality about the creative career is that even if you are not working on your content creation, your mind is wandering looking for ideas.

Our mind is hard-wired to find patterns, which is a good thing. It connects from experiences, thoughts and information you have absorbed which persist in the long-term memory.

I wish to write about a deja-vu situation someday. Let’s see how strong that sudden realisation would be!

2. Your art will make you observant

Here is a quality of artists: they want to represent everything in the form they see best. A writer will describe the whole world in words, a musician with music, and so on.

When it makes you observant, you will want to use your creativity on anything you see, hear, touch, smell or taste. You will start finding inspiration in everyday activities.

3. Record the ideas asap

Ideas are short-lived. You know the regret when you are trying to remember a unique one which you failed to record.

I know the pain. It’s frustrating how unprepared we can be to heed them. They sometimes come as a sudden realisation. Sometimes when you are not ready to record them: for example, pooping without digital distraction ( hint: your phone ).

Walking is one of the exercises I do whenever I am out of ideas, or whenever I am bored and need some time to lighten the mood. It works like magic. And since I am ready to note the thoughts whenever they come while walking, I don’t have to think about it too much. Give yourself a mindful walk and see how your subconscious finds inspiration for you.

Takeaways

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou

Your subconscious mind is hungry for knowledge. Feed it in all the way possible. Be it reading, podcasts, TedX, Netflix, etc. The more you feed it, the more efficient it will become at finding ideas from day-to-day activities.

The effective way to make sure the ideas stay for you to execute in the content creation stage is to record them in some way. I have yet to develop a structured idea management system for myself. Once I have it, it’ll all be here on Medium!

This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing in this 100-days streak. Today is day 95. Navigate to the end of the article 22, for the references from day 23 onwards. If you would like to read the ones before day 22, here is the first one that documents them in the end.

~ Sanjeev