Being creative

I really admire people who have developed the ability to come up with new ideas. I struggle with this, so it amazes me when I watch people toss things together. Today I was listening to a podcast by a guy named Chris Koerner who just comes up with business ideas based on existing businesses or adapting how one business does something to a totally different business. He says he has started 75 businesses, but it looks like he only has a few that he has stuck with for the long haul. He loves to interview folks who have come up with an interesting business, and you watch him get more ideas from them. He has a friend who he gets together with and they just toss out idea after idea. Are they all great? No, probably not, but they keep doing it over and over. It's fun to watch. I just like how goes about coming up with new ideas and trying them out.

I've wondered how people develop this skill, whether in writing, business, or other things. Like I said, I have a hard time with this. I can only imagine that it comes through practice. I've heard Brandon Sanderson say ideas are the easy part of writing, but it always seems to begin with "Once you been writing for a while." It seems to be an outcome from focusing on something for long periods of time. Brandon focuses on creating stories. Chris focuses on business. I have a friend who used to spin off open-source software projects constantly. For a variety of reasons, my attention is far more scattered.

I think that has been one of the most challenging parts of writing. I have to focus on something for the long haul. It has to become the main part of my attention. Rewiring decades of bouncing all over the place is just difficult.

I need to come up with a strategy on this that works for me. 😕