Getting ideas is a boring process

“Where do you get your ideas?” has a far less interesting answer than you think.

I do creative things because I like to, not necessarily for recognition. I really wouldn’t mind recognition, and (I’m about to embarrass myself here) I sometimes prepare for it. By that I mean I often think of answers to questions that people would have for someone that they recognize as a talented person they would like to get to know better. One of the questions I’ve had a really good answer to for a while and only recently got to utilize my answer for is this: “How do you come up with your ideas?”

Now, this is something that every creative person has to answer anyway, because, frankly, it’s hard to get any ideas if you don’t know where you’re getting them from. You need a method. You need a process. Not everyone thinks very hard about what their method or process is, but I think too hard about everything I do, so I have a very good, very concrete answer for this. Here goes:

I stare into space and I let my mind wander.

Not only is this entirely, 100% true, it’s also humorous and guaranteed to get a laugh. I always like those kind of answers the best. The reason why it’s humorous, however, is because it’s incredibly ironic.

What people want to hear when they ask you how you get your ideas is probably either some crazy, convoluted process, a particular thing that you draw inspiration from, or the pretentious genius answer, “They just come to me.” People don’t expect, “Oh, I have to be in a quiet room with a blank paper or computer screen, and I stare at it until I come up with something.” That’s my process. It sounds really boring, but that’s it. I bet that’s the same for a lot of people, and I’d win that bet because I’ve heard it from several creative folk (which is too bad, because I don’t gamble).

This may sound boring, ironic, and simple, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes I have to stare into space for a long time before I come up with something. Sometimes what I come up with something that isn’t that great, and I have to try again. Inspiration doesn’t just happen, no matter what the pretentious geniuses say. It doesn’t mean it’s very exciting.