Need Practical Ideas For Writing? Here They Are!
I have one simple technique and it starts with ME.

As writers, we fear those days where our mental well is dry. And as much as we deny it, those days are actually rather common. For me, it was yesterday, the day before, and possibly today.
So, I had to learn to generate ideas rather than having them come to me. The former is actionable, and the latter is a Writer’s Wet Dream. I think we all know that Wet Dreams do not frequent us that often.
How can we generate ideas in a jiff when there is none in the first place? I use this simple technique I brand as Me-Expansion (no Copyrights in place yet. Feel free to use).
The tools required for this technique is a pen and a sheet of paper. Are you ready? Let us begin.
Start With Me.
Me-Expansion starts with Me. As obvious as it sounds, we are our best source of writing inspiration. First things first. Scribble our names into a sheet of paper.
For me, my name is Aldric Chen. I have a Christian First Name and a Chinese Last Name. This combination gives me a window to understand my thought processes.
Much of my thinking is influenced by Confucian virtues when I was growing up. It includes the hard work ethic, discipline, a responsibility to self and household, etc.
The source of my knowledge originated from the geographical West. The study of Calculus and Natural Sciences from the Old World, the modern development of Finance and Marketing from the New World.
I would have derived 3 key anchor topics for the day. It can be on Confucian virtues, origins of my knowledge from the geographical West, or a perspective tapestry bringing the 2 together.
From Me To You.
The previous section is about Me. Now, we move on to You.
Singular is easy. The plural is difficult. How I think is a combination of current-day Life exposure, coupled with my past experiences. You would have your own Life Resume that is distinct from mine.
And that is enough to make the World go nuts.
The toughest issue we face daily is communication. What is communication? Basically, it is the line that connects the 2 dots. You and Me are the 2 dots.
- Is this task a priority? Bosses say Yes. Employees say No.
- Is social media a source of addiction? Parents say Yes. Digital Marketers say No.
- Is retirement important? Taxpayers say Yes. Current retirees say No to retiree-wannabes.
From here, we know that communication in itself is a never-ending topic. The trick is to write down those topics that we know best and are passionate about.
We can then highlight those topics. We can rattle on without a toilet break for hours that simultaneously will send our listeners to sleep within 3 minutes.
We have great stories.
For me, that story is about Money.
From Me To You To We.
If you think You is difficult, wait till you think about We. We can generate a string of ideas here.
Negative-bound ideas are easy to generate for this section. There are literally thousands, millions of stories on the failure of teams. It ranges from a team of idiots to lack of alignment.
You name it. We got it.
When we think about We, the collective is ideal. This is an experience-play. The Hero’s Story is a good template for this section.
Think back to those days where we worked in a team populated by buffoons, missing our collective Key Performance Indicators year after year. Then a superstar Boss appeared, got the ducks in line, and won the game.
I am sure we have terabytes of such stories sitting in our mental repository, waiting to be activated.
Side note. The story of the last-ranked soccer team winning the National Championship can be wonderful. I like the story of the Titanic too.
Together, We _____ (Fill in the blanks with one of the two — Swim/Sink).
In Summary.
Personally, I do not think we lack ideas. We lack techniques to bring out the ideas that are nestling in our minds.
When I am in the dry-mental-well mode, I use Me-Expansion as a technique to extract the ideas in my head.
This is a simple technique that involves a reflection of the following: -
- Me.
- You.
- We.
And with that, we unlock a treasure trove of ideas. This is not a fanciful technique requiring in-depth research or Search Engine Optimization.
All we require is a pen and a sheet of paper.
I hope you enjoyed this story and found it helpful.
Happy Writing!
Aldric
Related Stories from the Author.
About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
Follow me for my stories on Medium!