Here’s some irony for you: I’ve been wondering for days what this week’s blog post should be about, but I kept coming up blank. No ideas.
That was my eureka moment. Writers run out of ideas all the time. Despite public perception, we’re not necessarily a fount of amazing thoughts, of visions brought to life on the page. Sometimes the space between our ears feels pretty useless for generating anything more than our to-do lists.
For freelancers, this isn’t necessarily as big a problem as it may seem. The vast majority of my stories are assigned to me from editors who already have the ideas. They typically know just what they want, and when they lay out the parameters of the topic I can almost always oblige. Happily.
See, here’s my shameful secret: I’m not an ideas person. Rather, I consider myself an excellent tactician, someone who can skillfully execute ideas in a way that pleases both the thinker and the doer. I’d much rather my editors continue feeding me topics, because I feel it’s a better use of my time than mentally fumbling for something that will light up the page.
When some brilliant thought does pop into my head (obviously an intermittent event), I seize the chance to flesh out a story from the ground up. I get that fire-in-the-belly feeling that comes from creating the idea that creates the piece. It’s an awesome moment.
But the raw fact is, being the doer instead of the thinker works best for me, and luckily it seems to be a win-win for my editors too.
And that’s my big idea for this week’s post.
February 24th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
I’m definitely not an ideas person, either – and that is one of the big reasons freelancing doesn’t seem like something I’d ever want to do fulltime. Thanks for writing this!
February 25th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Freelancing is still a possibility, though, as I can attest. If you really want to do it, what have you got to lose?
February 25th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Ha! Love those eureka moments. I don’t have a shortage of ideas, but it’s the execution part that I sometimes falter with. New ideas pop in, and older ones get put aside — endless cycle.
Hmmm…can we somehow morph our strengths together? 😉
February 25th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
It would be wonderful to blend our strengths, Amanda. And I’ve noticed how you’re always full of great new ideas — I’m jealous!
March 4th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
[…] on coming up with great brainwaves, Write Around it All’s admission that she’s not an ideas person is a refreshing […]
March 29th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
The annoying thing about running out of ideas is that when I have a few I have loads and end up having to jot them all down in a notepad so that I can remember them all and then there will come a time where I have no ideas for about a month. Or I have the idea, but I’m just not able to write it in a way that I like at all.
March 29th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Hi Richard,
It’s good that you stockpile your ideas in a notepad — I think every writer has one stowed away somewhere. My ideas come in waves too. By the way, I like your site!
Cheers,
Maureen
March 29th, 2011 at 10:00 pm
Thank you, my blog actually shows spots where I have suffered from a bit of writers block. It’s apparent from the huge gaps between posts.