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Old 10-27-2009, 11:25 AM   #10 (permalink)
Shane
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 65
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Two things:

1. Practice thinking in categories.

2. Have a place to "put" your ideas in different categories.


Why nr. 1? Thinking in categories is a way of focusing. Don't try to come up with ideas in general or even ideas for stories/books. Categorize into ideas about a character/character traits, story elements in different genres, the meaning of different historical times when used as a backdrop for a story and any other kind of category you can think of.

Why nr 2? Because I've experienced that often, I only get good ideas once there is a "place" for them. For me, this place will be either a text-file on my harddrive or a note in Evernote. It could also be a page in a notebook or whatever.
So, for example, I have a a folder with martial arts related texts. In there, I have subfolders and text files. One is about general, philosophical guidlines for training martial arts. Another is for techniques to simplify and streamline the training. Another is for exercising basics like balance, reflexes, hand-eye coordination etc. I have several files to gather specific techniques to be used with specific weapons.

You get the idea. I've split everything up into small, clear categories. Since there is a "space" for ideas in each of these categories, I know where to put them, once I have them and it just seems that I am more likely to have ideas about something that I have created a category for.

Try it out.
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