Uncover the Goldmine of Ideas Waiting Patiently Within You.

Becoming A Writer

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Uncover the Goldmine of Ideas Waiting Patiently Within You.

Episode 36 of Becoming A Writer podcast.

Mar 22, 2025

Transcript

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Show Notes -

Episode Summary: In this episode, we explore the concept of ideas being all around us and how writers can tap into them effortlessly. We discuss why writers struggle with the belief that they have no ideas and provide practical methods to find, generate, and track ideas for writing projects.

Key Points Discussed:

The power of listing life and professional lessons to uncover writing ideas.
Why we entertain the limiting belief that we have no ideas.
Where to look for ideas.
How to keep track of your ideas effectively.

Takeaways:

Ideas are everywhere if we open our minds and engage with the world.
Writers often fall into the “no ideas” trap due to self-imposed pressures and fears.
Looking for and generating ideas are two different approaches that can be used together.
Keeping a structured yet simple system for storing ideas ensures a steady flow of inspiration.

Transcript -

Podcast Intro -

Welcome to Becoming A Writer podcast, where writing inspiration is served fresh in 20 minutes or less, every 2nd and 4th Saturday.

I am Rubina Gauri Gomes, and together we'll learn how to explore, experiment with, and express our writer selves.

If this speaks to your writing journey, give the podcast a listen! If you enjoy it, I'd love for you to leave a review so others can find it, too. Don’t forget to share your suggestions or questions through the form in the show notes, and let’s grow this community together!

You can find more conversations like this and download your free Writer's Mental Toolbox PDF at rubinagomes.substack.com.

Now, grab a cup of your favourite drink, and let's have a quick chat.

Episode -

Hello, my writer friends! Rubina here.

In our previous conversation, we figured out how to finish the first draft of our book. But we can't finish a draft until we have found an idea to write about.

So, today, for our thirty-sixth conversation, we are going to discuss ideas—why we lack them, how to find them, and how to keep track of them.

Ideas Are All Around Us.

A few years back, I was part of an online writing cohort. Obviously, one of the first topics we discussed was "Ideas." One way they suggested looking for ideas to write about was to make a list of lessons you have learnt in the past two years.

This list, they said, was a great starting point to get your writing ball rolling.

So I sat down and started listing. To make it easier for me, I made separate lists of life lessons and professional lessons. Small ones, big ones, silly ones, serious ones—I left nothing out.

Soon, I had a list of ideas long enough to satisfy my writing needs for at least two years. John Steinbeck was right in saying that -

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."

Earlier, I used to think that I had nothing to say. This list, now physically present in front of me, proved that I do have something to say and write about.

This activity made me realise that the notion of ideas being all around us is actually true. We just need to put our egos aside and open our eyes and ears to what interests us.

Why Do We Entertain The "No Ideas" Limiting Belief?

If ideas are truly around us, then why is it that we give into the limiting belief that we have nothing to say? Well, there are quite a few reasons for that.

Perfectionism and rigid thinking.

When we start looking for an idea to write about, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have the perfect idea. It needs to be fully formed. It needs to excite us enough to write and excite the readers enough to read. It needs to satisfy our creative craving and, at the same time, give us surety that it will make us a million bucks. We also make our ideas logically make sense right from the beginning so that we are able to box and label them in a way that others understand as well. The desire for every idea to be brilliant or groundbreaking or money-minting stifles creativity. Even before we give an idea a chance, we dismiss it prematurely, thinking it's not good enough.

Therefore, we end up with nothing to write about.

Lack of inspiration.

Ideas come from engaging with the world. They come from the books you read, the movies you watch, and the songs you listen to. They come from the places you visit (both old and new) and the conversations you have. They come from observing the world around you and in you and reflecting on it. They come from learning, trying, and experimenting. When we don't expose ourselves to new experiences, perspectives, or stories that could spark creativity, our inner creative well runs dry.

Unclear goals.

When you don't know what you want to achieve with your writing, you will struggle to choose the ideas that should receive your creative time and energy.

Choice Overload and Decision Paralysis.

I am hit by choice overload and decision paralysis every time I find myself at the food court of the mall. With so many restaurants to choose from, and from almost a hundred dishes to choose from, I get stressed and cranky really soon. Having so many choices makes me paralysed to make any sensible and satisfying decision, leading to me ordering what I order every time.

We writers often face this same complexity when looking for and deciding which ideas to write about. Many times we have too many ideas asking for attention, which confuses us because we don't want to make the wrong choice. Too long in this state and we become paralysed and choose nothing.

This commotion makes us think that we have no ideas to write about.

Fear of failure or judgement.

These are times when the fear of how others will react to your work stops you from pursuing ideas the writer in you wants to explore.

Pressure to create and Burnout.

Being on a deadline and/or the expectation of constantly producing good-quality writing can turn the act of writing into a chore, draining it of joy and creativity.

Also, exhaustion from previous projects and external pressures can leave us feeling uninspired and mentally fatigued, making it hard to generate new ideas.

Emotional blocks.

Personal struggles, self-doubt, or unresolved emotions will often block our creativity, making it hard to access or trust our inner voice.

The Notion Of Write What You Know.

Then there is the other writing advice that often almost assaults writers - Write what you know. But what does that actually mean?

This expression may have come from Mark Twain's quote - "Write what you know about. That ain’t hard. What you’ve seen, what you’ve heard, what you’ve felt, what you’ve smelt, they all come in handy."

And this does seem like a valid advice that's simple enough to follow as well. But what if you want to write about something you don't know? I want to write about detectives and amateur sleuths solving murders but I have no clue about how to solve or even commit them. "Well, I don't know how a divorced, binge-eating detective lives and works like, so I can't write him." This is usually where we get stuck. But we don't want to be stuck; we want to write the story that's taking laps in our minds. So what do we writers do then?

My inner voice's answer was so stupidly obvious that it made me facepalm in agreement. "If you know more," my inner voice said, "you can write more."

Where To Look For Ideas?

There are two ways to go about looking for ideas - one is to find them, the other is to generate them.

How To Find Ideas?

By trying to find ideas, you will be participating in the act of discovering inspiration in the world.

Observe the world around you.

This is hard to pull off because we are consciously or unconsciously trained to react. It's hard to just sit and observe life unfold around you. It is the distinction between seeing and noticing, between hearing and listening, between studying and learning, and between perceiving and realizing.

Next time you go to a coffee shop, keep nothing on the table but your coffee and look around with intention of looking at what catches your curiosity. Eavesdrop on the conversations happening around you. Notice how others are behaving. Try and guess their backstory.

When you keep quiet, both in your speech and in your mind, the world around you shows its colours to you. You will find your next character, a particular trait your protagonist can adopt, or the sensory resources to recreate the coffee shop vibe in your work. Look into your daily life for inspiration. Inevitably, your creativity will fire up.

Mine from your personal experiences.

If you are not already journaling about your life and your thoughts about it, I highly recommend you start doing so. Journaling helps you record and reflect on your life—all the decisions you made and the results you got, the heartbreaks, the wins, the dreams and the plans. Many times, you'll find a nugget of thought that is gold enough to write about.

Indulge in art.

One time, I was on the couch, eyes closed, and on the TV, one of my comfort movies, The Mummy Returns, was playing. It's the kind of movie that I have seen a million times, and I know it by heart, so I don't need to look at it continuously. But the safe space of my comfort movie was also lulling me to sleep. And then the Medjai Chief, Ardeth Bay, drops some words of wisdom, "It is the missing piece of your heart. If you embrace it, if you accept it, you can do anything." That instantly brought me back to the land of the living, and I sat up. A few days later, I had a two-and-a-half-hour-long journal session on that quote.

This shows that you never know where you will find an idea. Books, movies, shows, and songs—indulge in them and stay open. Art always inspires art.

Explore other perspectives.

As a writer, you have to learn to be on the neutral ground. Human you can have opinions and sides, but the writer you must be open to at least considering all perspectives on a given topic or situation.

To be able to do this as a writer, you have to train your human side to this way of exploring, judgement-free. You do this by reading books, having conversations, and looking up history that stands in contrast to what you know or agree with. Again, you may not accept the different opinions, but you must acknowledge and respect them nonetheless. Then, you'll be able to write words that are holistic and wholesome.

How To Generate Ideas?

While looking for ideas, you were looking for them in the world. When it comes to generating ideas, you are taking part in the active process of creating them.

Engage in creative practices.

Using creative practices like freewriting, mind mapping, creating "what if" scenarios, and using prompts will excite your creativity enough to generate quirky and fun ideas for your writing.

Explore your dreams.

No matter how weird or ordinary they are, the dreams you see while sleeping is your subconscious at play. Your subconscious is your underrated and taken-for-granted best friend when it comes to your writing. Get acquainted with it by recording your dreams and trying to decipher them. Many a times, I have had dreams where a scene plays out and when I wake up I realise I can put my characters in that situation. Your dreams are so fun when you learn to play with them.

Experiment.

Experimenting with new structures, tropes, and genres is a powerful way for us to generate fresh ideas and push our creative boundaries.

When it comes to structure, let's say you are used to writing in third-person POV, linear form—try writing an epistolary novel from the first-person POV. Or, let's say you are writing the story from the protagonist's POV—try writing from the antagonist's POV.

The tropes are familiar themes or conventions that resonate with the readers, such as “the reluctant hero” or “enemies to lovers.” While tropes can sometimes feel overused, flipping them can spark originality. Let's say the mentor our protagonist was relying on turns out to be the villain. Let's say the hero arrives only to find the damsel already defeated the bad guy. Again, go wild with experimenting.

Experimenting with genre is another fun activity to ignite creative sparks. If you write science fiction, try writing contemporary fiction. If you write cute romances, try writing a horror story. It doesn't even need to be a complete novel; try writing a short story to just get a feel of it. You can also mix genres, like author Stuart Turton did. In his novel The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, he masterfully and mindbogglingly mixes Murder Mystery, Historical Fiction and Time Travel.

How To Keep A Track Of Your Ideas?

So far, you have understood that ideas are everywhere for you to grab. You have resolved your limiting beliefs around ideas and have learnt to find and generate ideas. Now, we need to keep track of your ideas.

Making a note of all the ideas you find is important so that you don't forget them. It doesn't matter if, at the moment, the idea feels not strong enough or worthy enough to write. An idea is an idea and can be useful if not now, then later. So I highly recommend writing down any and all ideas you get, again, no matter how mundane.

I have a Notion page with status, type, and idea details as my main columns, and I fill in the details as and when it's needed.

Now, you can store your ideas simply in a journal. Or you can create an intricate system like the Zettelkasten.

If the system you create to track your ideas hinders your writing process, it's not a good system, and you need to simplify it.

You want to be inspired by an idea and get to writing as soon as possible, not get lost in the intricate organizational process.

And that's how you uncover and take care of your goldmine of ideas.

What are your thoughts on this? How do you find and save your writing ideas? I’d love to hear from you in the comments on Substack and YouTube!

Well, that's it for today. Next time we meet, we'll discuss how you should actually write as you read.

Until then, keep writing, my friend.

Podcast Outro -

Thank you for catching up with me today.

I hope you found some inspiration to help you grow a deeper relationship with your writer self.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, don’t forget to follow the podcast and drop a review! You can also share any suggestions or questions with me through the form in the show notes.

You can find more conversations like this and download your free Writer's Mental Toolbox PDF at rubinagomes.substack.com.

That’s a wrap for now! See you later!