How to Get New Ideas

Here are some brainstorming techniques that help get my creative juices flowing.

New ideas can be fun, but that doesn’t mean they’re good. © Khalid Birdsong

Mastering getting creative work done is one thing, but what happens if you don’t even know where to start?

Coming up with new ideas can be challenging.

Most people don’t have a magical Japanese Tanuki raccoon by their side to help them brainstorm. Fear not. You can always find inspiration in the world around you, the books you read, the shows you watch, and even in discussing current events with friends. When you expect to be inspired, you’ll look for exciting themes and discover ideas around you.

Okay, maybe it’s not that easy. Here are a couple of techniques I use to get inspired.

Free association can be a fun way to spill everything in your head and make connections by writing words and sketching them out in your notes.

Free association in psychology refers to a process of discovering your genuine thoughts, memories, and feelings by freely sharing all the seemingly random thoughts that pass through your mind. Usually, you are given a prompt like a word or image without context then, you say what it makes you think of. The person leading the exercise tries to create links between the prompt and your response to learn about how your brain makes connections between ideas.

Sigmund Freud was the first pioneer of the psychoanalysis technique of free association. Freud worked on developing this technique further between 1892 and 1898. This new method became a cornerstone of psychoanalytic therapy. Freud based free association on the theory of psychic determinism that informed all his work.

-Better Help

My way of doing this involves sitting down at my drafting table, staring at the wall, and writing down whatever comes into my head—even if it’s unrelated. For a project where I already have characters, like my Fried Chicken and Sushi comic strip, I might have one character in mind, like J, and throw out words that come to me when I think of him.

Some people say it’s crazy, but I also like asking my characters what they want to do next. I’ll often start sketching them in various poses, doing different things like cooking, playing sports, or dancing. Eventually, they answer me, and new ideas for strips emerge, sometimes quickly, after a lot of random writing and drawing.

If you’re trying to write a new story idea from scratch, you could pick a word for something you’re interested in, like football. Write down all the words that come to your mind to describe the game of football and what it means to you.

Can you create a character that wants to play football but can’t, or they only focus on becoming the best player in the world and neglects other essential parts of life?

Like Tanuki stated in the comic above, combining random ideas is fun, but a story is only interesting as long as there’s conflict.

This leads me to my next point.

Add opposites for conflict and contrast.

Anywhere you can put a character with an opposite personality to another, something that feels opposed to everything in the world you create, or an opposing view to the points in an article you write is compelling and will create even more ideas.

I’m still working on getting better at this, but whenever I’m stuck on an idea, whether writing or drawing, I go back to opposites.

Take two things you’re interested in and add something opposite.

Why? Putting two things together is easy but doesn’t make a story. Adding an opposite element to your idea gives natural conflict and possibilities to electrify your new project.

I made this comic by using the brainstorming technique with Tanuki above. © Khalid Birdsong

For example, say you’re interested in writing a fantasy short story. You think firefighters are incredible, and you love magic. Firefighters put out fires. The opposite could be a firefighter who starts fires. Or one who can start fires with magic. Is he doing it to give firefighters something to do? Is he crazy? Does he want to watch the world burn? In what kind of world are they living?

You see, just these three elements have me exploring questions and figuring out a world. Coming up with ideas isn’t as difficult as you might think. I bet you can create impressive new concepts with the above methods. The challenge is deciding which ideas are the best for you to take seriously and then start working on them regularly.

Choosing ideas to commit to long-term is a challenge we can discuss in a future post.

Stay tuned.

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The Mandalorian Effect: If You’re Not Living by a Code, Your Mission in Life Will Most Likely Fail

Photo by Michael Marais on Unsplash

This is the way — to success

You are on a mission. A mission to reach success and live the life you’ve always dreamed of. If only you had a solid way of thinking and living to help guide you on your journey. It’s a big galaxy out there, but success is not as far, far away as it might seem.

My name is Din Djarin. I am a bounty hunter. You may know me as The Mandalorian. I’m here to impart my wisdom and moral code to you. Only if you choose to accept it.

Why you ask? After successfully delivering the child, baby Grogu, to Luke Skywalker of the Jedi Order, I’ve decided to take some time to put down my thoughts on success so that others can benefit. I have met others I thought lived by the Mandalorian way — such as never removing their helmet — but changed the rules to fit their personal needs.

With this in mind, I have come to understand you can start with beliefs you were taught as a child and build on them to create a code of your own to follow without fail. A code that helps you reach your goals with more ease. If you do not live by this code, I believe you will most likely fail.

As a Mandalorian, I have many sayings that I live by. Such as:

“Justice by single combat and always honoring one’s deals.” -The Mandalorians

I live by this but have also added new phrases that can help you on your travels towards prosperity. Whether it’s here or throughout the galaxy. If you are ready to level up, then follow my words.

Discipline is the true force

If you cannot consistently get the work done you vowed to complete, you will fail. No magic can save you. With life moving at lightspeed, you must practice discipline in all you do. Having the mindset to work consistently on your goals is the key. For that, you must decide to be a disciplined person — one who makes certain to complete all the tasks on their list no matter the circumstances.

I was trained from a young boy to follow what I was told by the elder Mandalorians. They taught me to listen and follow, but I have learned to take full responsibility for my life as a grown man. It is my job to take what they taught me, keep myself strong, and not blame them for my faults.

Only the discipline of adhering to daily training and hours of focused work will help you get where you want to go. Decide on why you are pursuing your mission. Make sure your “why” is compelling enough to get you up and rise to the challenge.

Establishing a routine gets you to your goals like riding a speeder bike — fast and direct

Find the same time each day to do the work. Use your disciplined mind to ensure you stick to a schedule you have planned out in advance. Do not throw your day together whenever it suits you. The morning is a productive time for getting thinking work done or exercising your body. When I rise, polishing my Mandalorian armor until it gleams is a cathartic practice. My mind is clear, and I am fully present with my thoughts as I plan the day ahead.

Utilize the technology of your planet and block off time in your day for what you must do. If you have trouble remembering, set a droid to remind you. Do what you must to make your routine into a habit, and your mind will expect to tackle everything on your list each day.

I believe in the mornings because no matter what planet I’m on, the sun rises and sets. Even if my days as a bounty hunter are unpredictable, at some point, the night will come, and I must sleep. Your routines will be accomplished if they are during times, you can always rely on.

Consistent practice sticks with you like an octopus attached to your ship

The truth is, you must practice improving. Remember that the amount of time does matter, but not as much as what you practice. Make sure it is of value.

Study the masters and discover what they practiced. Learn what you must to grow and then go all-in on your training every day.

Maneuvering the Razor Crest during a chase is definitely a stressful situation but, because of the flight training I acquired working with experienced pilots as a youth, knowing how and where to move to evade danger is now intuitive. I might not always get away, but from practice and experience, I have a fighting chance.

When you have focus, consistency, and patience, anything is possible. There were days when I thought Grogu would never get to the Jedi. I could not see the way forward. I know now that my singular focus on that goal, combined with consistent action, invariably led to a person who could assist us. My training helped us escape perilous situations, attracted a little luck, and manifested good fortune.

Photo by Jimmy Nguyen on Unsplash

All of this would not have been possible without living by a code I adhere to through good times and bad. Write out yours. Make decisions about how you will live your life and stick to them as closely as possible.

One day you will be able to share your code with others and tell them, “This is the way.”

Star Wars, The Mandalorian, and its characters are the property of Disney and Lucasfilm.