Tom at 2009-12-07 15:48:29:
Exercise. Exercise your brain as well as your body.
Scott, last year you mentioned Halliwell’s Film Guide. That has become a huge casual idea generator for me. By casual, I mean I’ll just flip through and read the loglines and summaries – and within 15 to twenty minutes, I usually have a minimum of five ideas. I remember hearing that Jerry Seinfeld was asked how he came up with so many good jokes. His answer was that he wrote 99 bad ones and one good one.
Read, read, read and then make a habit of writing down at least one idea per day. If you can do more, then you’ll have that many more ideas. I recommend reading everything you can get your hands on. I like to read internet news channels, both the traditional outlets and those that are geared to a particular discipline, i.e. science or business. Then, I’ll jot down ideas and sift through them. If I see a really good one, I’ll copy the entire article to a Word file.
I also try to use other creative outlets that can change the focus of your thoughts. For me, painting is something I do that relaxes me and allows me to start generating ideas; most of the time I paint while backpacking so I’m pretty free of distractions.
One last thing is that I don’t limit my ideas just too artistic endeavors. I try to think of solutions to problems, come up with new business ideas and generally try to solve the problems of the world. And one of the best ways to do that is to talk with other people in other fields of work and in other stages of life.