Noticing the amount of articles I write every day, my readers often ask how can I come up with a new idea every time? It seems like when I sit down to write, the idea just comes.
Exactly the opposite happens to them.
The time when ideas are less likely to come is when they sit down before the computer and put their hands on the keyboard.
To tell the truth, I was in their shoes too, just not so long ago.
I have talked about setting up an idea capturing buckets.
Idea journals work for me.
Now I use it consistently.
"Wait a minute," they said.
"An idea journal is a good idea, but we want to know the process of idea generation, the step that comes right before writing down the ideas on the journal.
" Well, it's actually quite simple.
Ideas come uninvited and to certain extent you can use some techniques to stimulate the flow of ideas.
At these times, you want to make sure you have a "bucket" where you can write down the ideas for review or use later.
What's the stimulation? One of them is as simple as paying attention.
If you don't anticipate them when they come, you won't notice them at all.
If you focus enough on the topic and make article writing part of your work, this will come naturally sooner or later.
I still continually miss some good ideas but I don't worry about them too much because I have more than I need to act upon.
Another technique is by immersion.
Go the the library and get books related to the topic you're writing.
Just by looking at the table of content, it often reveals endless streams of ideas.
Last tip: Amazon (and possibly other online bookstore) has made a lot of table of content of the book titles available for viewing.
Use that if you like the idea about accessing information at the comfort of your own home, although going out once in a while can be refreshing.
Capture the ideas and start writing!