PRODUCTIVITY
“It's hard to be original”, Really?
Do you ever think- “ everything has been written already”?
Do you ever go down “The Medium Rabithole” (homepage) and thought that everything that you thought about has already been published? And that being original is impossible? You are always creatively blocked and you scratch your head very often thinking about original ideas to write about?
Well, this is the stage which I like to call “The Juvenile Phase” of writing. And I have been through this already. Originality, for its own sake often results in “mendacious” writing. People are rarely either so self-conscious or extraordinary to think and speak in solely fresh ways. On the other hand, attempting to describe something as accurately as possible will very often result in new-sounding expressions.
Peep yourself
To research for ideas of articles, I frequently used to hop on the internet vehicle, which always led me to nowhere near originality. We often think of the internet as a surplus source of information. Information is crucial, but they are just mere information, you cant just turn them into articles and taste originality in that thing. If you are searching for ideas on the internet then it can’t be original right! You are a unique person with your own emotions, passions, and desires. Start with whatever you know. Maybe you have traveled somewhere which could be a great setting for a story or met someone who could induce an idea in your mind. Maybe you do an interesting job, or you have been through an influential experience. If you begin your writing process in a world that you’re acquainted with, it’ll obviously be much easier for you to write. When you share your personal experiences, you stand out from the crowd. Show what you’ve ascertained and how you’ve attained expertise.
Go Out
Watch the world around you. Go to a date, go watch a movie, or just roam around, I don't know, just do some outdoor activities. That vacant alley you pass every day on the way to work might become an inspiration for a story or an article. Sometimes, just going for a half-hour walk, or moving out to a different room of the house will establish a new perception in your creative vision. Quick fact — every person observes or perceives things — the world, themselves — in a different way. When nothing creative is getting developed, it often means you’re not getting exposed to enough creative stimulation. Sitting in a room and work for tens of hours can create a tunnel vision, make you creatively constrained, and also can make you socially inept.
P.S — Consider these consequences seriously.
Blend Genres
There are thousands of writing styles and different genres out there in the world. Let's say you generally write about technology, and you have a little idea about “sneakers” (British:- “Trainers”). Try to prepare a blend in between them. There are sneakers which are rich in technology, try to write about them. Congratulations, you just got introduced to a whole new genre of writing.
Talk to People
Conversations are not just a way of sharing information, they are key to language development. They actually induce physical and emotional changes in the brain and hold the power to change the brain by boosting the production of hormones and neurotransmitters. People learn by listening to each other while observing facial and body expressions that show emotions.
“Face to face conversation is the most human and humanizing thing we do,” says Sherry Turkle in her book Reclaiming Conversation — The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. “
Talking to people keeps your mental health nourished and flourished. Try talking to people you are alienating from. They are the ones, who will stimulate ideas in your mind. I highly recommend you do this.
Train your Brain
Our brain has two modes of thinking i.e, focused, and diffused thinking. When our brain operates in focused mode, we are concentrating on something, be it solving a math problem or writing an essay. Diffused thinking, on the other hand, is a more relaxed state of thinking and is not constrained with any particular part of the brain. For effective & productive learning, we swap between focused and diffused mode to fortify our neural networks and reinforce the new pathways we are trying to create. We master the details in focused mode, then comprehend how everything fits together in diffuse mode.
Pick the right Environment
The environment you are in plays a substantial role in you achieving goals? Sometimes even minuscule changes in your surroundings can result in humongous differences over time. If you are normally working on a dark room which lacks outdoor lighting, you are doing it wrong. Lighting has a permeating effect on psychology and behavior. Bright lighting stimulates creativity in your mind and dark lighting promotes inactivity. If your room lacks outdoor lighting, then it can make you feel depressed.
Let’s say you step into an uninhabited and antiquated bungalow. What would you feel? The door creaks when you open it. Light is transmitting through the tarnished window-glasses. It smells ancient. You get gloomed. Contrasted to the world outside, your mind tells you that this place is scary. It makes you feel different. It induces different thoughts. You are a different person inside the Bungalow. Now walk into a concert filled with thousands of fans of a pop star. The views are brighter and the sounds are much louder. These scenarios influence on your brain.
Take yourself away to a tranquil space, free from interference, commotion, and other distractions, so that the ideas will stream. This will only make you creatively ajar.
Analyze
Say you like reading some writer’s article. Break down the article, examine “what is it that making it a great article”. Or just copy the text and paste it in your draft. Whoa! I am not promoting plagiarism, just hear me out once. The text you have copied will provide you a layout or you could say template, then it will be really easy for you to write seamlessly after referencing the perfect article.
Think of it like cooking. You can follow other people’s recipes because that makes the output delicious. But a good chef will find existent recipes bland sooner or later and start trying to contrive better versions of them.
Note
Ideas are volatile. “The memory quota,” says that we can only remember only four facts at a time. And those facts stay in our working memory for only 10–15 seconds. Have you developed a noting habit yet? A notebook is an important tool for a writer. Do not depend on remembering ideas later, act now or you will miss an idea for a potential article/story. You can always create a mind map to picture the article. Digital notebooks can also be very handy by letting you write and read’em anytime and anywhere.
Check What’s Poppin
The more you read, the more you will gain ideas. You can find a lot of story ideas by just checking out the news every day. You can find human struggle, invention, and quirky characters abound in the real world. The news is one good place to find them. Plus you are getting updated with what’s happening around you? I mean, what could go wrong about this?
Coming up with a good idea is a process, not an event. There is rarely an “ah-ha” moment. I generally write like I am talking to someone. This actually helps me a lot in my writing process. It’s like you are initiating a conversation and just going with the flow. You know, when you conversate, you don’t have to be creative to talk fluently. This is my own secret little mantra — which you can absolutely use, I had set it to creative commons on the basis of copyrights.
New, original writers, novelists, poets, artists, musicians come out every day. Each of us is an entirely unique human being with diverse thought processes. Don't forget that you are original and your ideas are original. Just express whatever comes to your mind. As long as you do that, you’re good.
P.S- I totally made up the term “The Juvenile Phase”.
