A Journey Through Medium Land
The way I write is different from the way you write, we all have different methods. Here are a few tips and tricks I use.
Finding Ideas
Ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere. The best way to find ideas is to read. Read everything and anything. Read the type of content you want to produce, primarily, but also read comics and classics, art books and science journals.
Something I find useful when trying to come up with ideas, is just to browse through pictures in art books (since I tend to write about art), but equally, looking over old photographs, can produce the sparks you need. As Deborah Harmes points out.
Sometimes going for a walk works for me. Being in nature can be stimulating and yet soothing enough to get the mental juices working. Or, just going through the motions of a regular day at work, can do the trick.
Format
I often write my initial ideas out, long-hand, in a big spiral bound notebook. Ideas flow better from a physical pen onto scrubby, recycled paper. In my writing group, no-body uses a laptop to write directly digital. We compare notebooks, and wax lyrical about stationery.
Writing is a physical act, which takes a lot of thought; but, also, motor skills. How often do you suck the pen, or trace the end of…