Reps, Reps, Reps
James Altucher — Business Person, Investor, Writer, Blogger, Speaker, etc ... is one of my favourite people. His cool-person rating is off the charts. I'd love to meet him. A quick ‘hello and thanks for the insights’.
One such insight is his idea about becoming an idea machine.
James argues that there is such a thing as an idea muscle, and as with any muscle you’re not using, it will atrophy. There are stories of people who've been bed-bound for 3/4 weeks and requiring physiotherapy to help them walk again, because they're leg muscles had already begun to waste away. The same thing happens to the idea muscle.
So we need to bulk it up.
As Arnie says 'reps, reps, reps'.
Ten idea repetitions a day. Easy right?
This is the answer to the question 'where do ideas come from?'. They come from you of course. You just gotta put the effort in to bring them out.
David Lynch's Resonance Antenna
David Lynch talks about turning yourself into an antenna and becoming open to receiving the ideas around you. I wholeheartedly agree.
The ideas are already out there, floating around, loitering, and it's only when you put the effort in, by writing down these ideas every single day, that you make yourself open to receiving the good ones. You'll know the good ones because they'll resonate with you artistically and holistically.
You might start to find that an idea on its own is a bit naff and pointless, but when mixing with other ideas, the sparks begin to fly and you have the beginnings of a truly unique story.
So here's my advice. Create a new idea file. Write down ten ideas EVERY SINGLE DAY. It will be hard at first, but the more you train the muscle, the easier it will become. Don't worry about being perfect. You'll know when you've found something that truly resonates with you.
And to prove that I’m not bullshitting you, here's my ten ideas for today (remember they don't have to be good).
1. Pandaman - A story about a man with an incredibly low sex drive, who's semen holds the key to the survival of the human race. (I actually like this one. It's sorta weird and funny.)
2. The Ceiling Cat God - Remember that ceiling cat meme? What if this cat showed up in different ceiings in your life to offer you advice, or to judge you.
3. The £100 crowdfunded film. Crowdfund a film for £100 and sell film online for 99p. Offer backers royalties on profits. Then make a £200 film with the bigger fan base. Then a £300, and so on. This will encourage your backers to promote your work, because they will be getting a bit of the proceeds.
4. Writer Coffee — Coffee made and marketed just for writers.
5. Storyteller Google Hangouts - Q&A type sessions to go with podcast.
6. A comic book series written in the style of Jack Kerouac about a man traveling America, but he gets involved in cults, and evil Satan stuff. I’m imagining a Neal Cassady type being the antagonist.
7. CreativePeopleQuotes - Design inspirational quotes for creative people, and sell on Society6 for them to place on their walls for daily inspiration. E.g. ‘Have You Made Your Art Today'
8. BalconyGuitarMan — Sing covers of songs from films on my balcony.
9. Write a book about going Polyphasic with my sleep.
10. Create seperate SKU's for every single tie at Kwoffee to raise visibility.