I Needed a Great Idea for a Story, So I Asked a Spider 🕷️

But not just any spider! It was an orb weaver! 🕸️🕷️

(Unfortunately, the spider didn’t show up)

Although the spider didn’t show up, I didn’t give up.

I took some photos of its web and learned about the orb weaver from Wikipedia.

Medium writers can learn a lot from orb weavers

For instance, who knew this?

Many orb-weavers build a new web each day (source: Wikipedia)

And many Medium writers build their habit by writing a new story each day. It’s about looking for new ideas, new audiences.

A Wild Ride That Starts With a Single Thread

The building of a web is an engineering feat, begun when the spider floats a line on the wind to another surface. (source: Wikipedia)

I took a photo of the orb weaver’s web. It had started 4 meters (around 4 yards) up in a tree.

And you — just like an orb weaver — might start with an idea no one can see, a connection no one has made before.

From one thread, another connects

The spider secures the line and then drops another line from the center, making a “Y”. (source: Wikipedia)

Just like you, connecting your initial wild idea to some fact or anecdote that’s going to help your story take shape.

Hiding, waiting, capturing ideas

Most orb-weavers tend to be active during the evening hours: they hide for most of the day. (thanks again, Wikipedia)

Well, that’s the very definition of a side hustle.

The thread of your story is hanging there, waiting for some new fact or memory to get trapped.

You can be “writing” even when you’re driving, eating, resting. Writing is more about spinning your web of ideas than typing on a keyboard.

Take a Break, Then Start Again

Generally, towards evening, the spider consumes the old web, rests for about an hour, then spins a new web in the same location.

Yesterday’s story may have totally flopped. Or it might have won you 1000 views.

Either way, your job today is to start again.

And that ability to spin a thread will capture something, something big, which will be enough to feed your writing mission for another day.

I didn’t wait around to watch the orb weaver come to consume its old web (and its prey) before it started again. I had a story to write.

Where do you get ideas for your stories? Share your source of inspiration in the comments.