# Unlocking Ideas By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-02-25 If one is going to write over an extended period, one will need to develop strategies for unlocking ideas. Some ideas come in a flash. The person has something to say, and writing it out is easy, if not cathartic. Typically, these topics emerge from an experience the individual wants to explore or respond to. These are relatively rare. If one only wrote in response to memorable things when inspired, one would write very little. For the other writings, one must develop a method for unlocking ideas. One could use a variety of approaches. One could look at the news, read something, listen to music, have a cup of coffee, or take a walk to list a view approaches. The key to any of these approaches is to put oneself in a space (mental and/or physical) to experience something of potential interest. A potentially more profound question would be why a person would want to write if one has nothing burning to say. What is the point of unlocking ideas? If one is a columnist, it is one’s job. Cranking out content is how one gets paid. Without that economic incentive, there could still be reasons one takes the time to discover something about which to write. Unlocking ideas is about pushing outside of one’s given perspective. It is about thinking and exploring uncommon ideas. It is about coming to new understandings about things one takes for granted. As one unlocks ideas, one extends incrementally in areas and directions that would not be pursued based on interest and inspiration alone. Not all these extensions will build into something significant. Some will be random and isolated. Some will start a thread of thinking that develops into something more meaningful. A few will transform one’s focus and intent. Unlocking ideas takes a dedicated effort. Most people do not write down their exploratory thoughts. Almost all could write down one or two thoughts a year. Few would have the discipline required to write hundreds of vignettes a year. It has been said that “great is the enemy of good.” Writing frequently, without specific intent and inspiration, will likely produce a multitude of writings that are less than great. Conversely, writing in that fashion will have many more good writings than one would make based on inspiration alone. The benefit of dedicated effort toward unlocking ideas is that, in the aggregate, one will produce a body of work that captures and reflects one’s mode of being in the world. Karl Weick asks, “How do I know what I think till I see what I say?” Unlocking ideas forces one to interrogate deeply what one thinks, and knowing one’s mind is the basis of all fulfillment. #### Related Items [[Ideas]] [[Writing]] [[Thinking]] [[Intention]] [[Good]] [[Greatness]] [[Inspiring]] [[Discipline]]