• wombat said on Jan 03, 2008....

  I think about things as I am going to sleep, and sometimes--the first thing or two that I think about the next morning will be a good idea--or a question of something I hadn't considered.
   
  As for writing posts--they just pop into my head when I get one silly idea--then I twist it into a neat little packgage, hoping for some overall meaning.  When I get a bit of the thread going, I pull on it and get into the zone.  It just flows out.  Or doesn't.  Then I just delete it and forget it.
   
  I am working on some bigger projects, (yea, finally)  and I review what I have written, make notes--and think it through to see if it makes sense, or if I have made an error in the timeline or something.
   
  What creative project do you have up your sleeve?  Or is it a secret?

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 03, 2008....

  wombat,
  I think about things before I fall asleep too.  My project is not really a secret.  I've been thinking about setting up a blog separate from SC with a web host where I can earn 100% of the profits through adsense, affiliate links, etc.  The topic for such an endeavor  hit me tonight.  It was an  "I could have had a V8" moment.  :-)  Now I need to figure out the details for making it happen.
  
  Best of luck with your project.  Is it a book?
  
  CW
  

• wombat said on Jan 03, 2008....

  Yes, but my goodness, it sounds like child's play compared to what you are thinking about. That's impressive and I think it's as cool as our local temps!  Good luck with that!  Well, come to think of it, "wishing you good luck" sounds sort of negative in a way, doesn't it?  I'll just say, let me see it when you have it going!
   
  (nothing to do with the price of eggs, here--a joke on another post--but I felt really bad the other day, and I wandered around the store looking for something that might make me feel better.  I chose a V-8---something I hadn't had in ages.  It worked.  So, maybe it's a little sign....ha....)

• the_infernal_optimist said on Jan 03, 2008....

  Honestly, most of my best ideas occur to me in the shower. That's my primary thinking place - I can't hear the kids over the running water, nobody is allowed to barge in on me, and it clears my head.
  
  Poetry happens wherever I am, and I can't really pinpoint when/where most of my ideas come from there. Project-type ideas happen in the shower a lot though.
  
  Good luck with your project, CW! :)
  
  ~Infernal
  

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 03, 2008....

  wombat,
  I think I'm nearly there for starting my project.  The domain name I want is available at the moment.  I just need to make sure I host it at a good reputable place.  So the little wheels in my brain are spinning.
  
  Let's toast our V8's!
  
  (It's cold here too.)
  
  Infernal,
  Thank you. Poetry swims around in my head too.  I can understand why your shower is a great idea place.  :-)
  
  CW
  

• genalonewolf said on Jan 03, 2008....

  I have some of my best ideas when not thinking about them at all and over an awesome sandwich. 

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 03, 2008....

  gena,
  That is sort of what happened to me...minus the bread. 
  
  It's good to see you around.  :-)
  
  CW
  

• Zayda said on Jan 03, 2008....

  CW--Honestly, I can't tell you where my best ideas come from. Ideas come to me from a variety of places--while driving, in the shower, over coffee, from a comment someone has made here on Soulcast. I have no idea if they are my "best" ideas until I put forth those ideas and see what kind of response they get, to be honest.
  
  
  Sometimes an idea will come to me over something I have been mulling over but am not currently thinking consciously about; instead whatever I have been mulling over is percolating quietly in the background and then something hits me.
  
  
  Other times, I'll take and idea that I think is a good idea and sit down with pen and paper and plot things out or map things out.
  
  
  So, I guess my answer is both "from everywhere" and "it depends".

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 03, 2008....

  Zayda,
  Like you, I  find inspiration from many places. :-)   However, I find it very satisfying when I have an "eureka" type moment.
  
  CW
  

• MissMimi said on Jan 03, 2008....

  I get good ideas while I'm driving, or doing the dishes.  The shower's a good place to get inspiration; too bad I don't have a waterproof laptop.
   
  If I happen to have a "lightbulb moment", especially a quilting idea, while I am falling asleep, I have been known to jot it down or sketch a picture of the idea right then and there.

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 04, 2008....

  Mimi,
  If you could invent a waterproof laptop, you would be rolling in the dough.  :-)  I think writing and sketching your ideas is very smart.  I loved that picture you posted of one your quilts a few weeks ago.
  
  CW
  

• queenparanoia said on Jan 04, 2008....

  my great ideas come randomly to me... although if ever i encounter one i always write it down so i wont forget about it... =)

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 04, 2008....

  queen,
  I am sometimes the same.  You should see the scribbles on the notebook beside my computer.  :-)
  
  CW
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Jan 04, 2008....

  I find that some of my best ideas occur when I'm chatting with my sister.  She plays up the silly side of me and that is apparently where all the creative ideas come from.

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 04, 2008....

  UI,
  It sounds like the two of you have a very special relationship.  :-)
  
  CW
  

• Alyss said on Jan 04, 2008....

  My ideas tend to be in my head when I have woken from a particularly good night's sleep. They tend to just 'appear'.

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 04, 2008....

  Alyss,
  I like those like that come from a clear mind.  Mine is very cluttered most of the time. :-)
  
  CW
  

• quietone said on Jan 04, 2008....

  CW ~ I get my best ideas from dreams I have.  I just have to make sure I remember them when I wake up.  I should keep a notebook by my bed.  Sometimes they just pop into my head too.

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 04, 2008....

  quietone,
  A notebook by the bed probably would be a good idea.  :-)  I think I'm mostly a head popper because I seem to never ever stop thinking.
  
  CW
  

• PassionTraveler said on Jan 04, 2008....

  My best method (for creative & other types of writing) is just to put my head down, pen to paper, with no pauses and just write letting everything free flow. It was an exercise my professor forced the class to do in college and she said it was the best writing any of us had ever done. I had to agree.
  
  At first, it's tough. You have to fight the urge to edit as you go, or rewrite. Just write, typos, mistakes, and all. Worry about editing something later. It's one of the best ways I know to get the creative juices flowing.
  
  This process isn't as simple for non-writing projects I guess. For that, maybe a cloud chart.
  
  PT
  

• travelr712 said on Jan 04, 2008....

  as soon as i come up with my first good idea, i'll tell you how i did it :-)

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 04, 2008....

  PT,
  I'm guilty of doing lots of editing as I go with whatever I seem to be writing.  I'll have to give your idea some consideration.  This may sound silly, but what is a cloud chart?
  
  trav,
  yeah, yeah, yeah  :-)
  
  CW
  

• PassionTraveler said on Jan 04, 2008....

  For a cloud chart or bubble chart:
  
  Start at the center of a large page... or white board, etc... with your main goal at the center. If it's a project for a coffee marketing campaign, start with "coffee" in the center bubble/cloud. Then draw lines or spokes outward, each with some off-shooting free-flowing thought. From coffee, you think "creamer". In another direction, you think "vanilla", then you think "favorite mugs", "breakfast beverage", then just "breakfast," then "lunch," then for some reason, you think oddly enough, "brown bag lunches" which on the surface seemingly has nothing to do with "coffee".
  
  Somehow, you get the idea from all of those clouds floating around your central coffee theme to create "brown bag lunch coffee" gift sacks. Each "lunch sack" has a large branded mug, with a package of the latest season's coffee flavor, or creamer or whatever the promotion is about, with some messaging that says "Coffee isn't just for breakfast anymore..."
  
  That's how a cloud/bubble chart works. (other brainstorming chart examples)
  
  PT

• Lions&skulls said on Jan 04, 2008....

  After giving the situation some thought.  Stop thinking about it and in a while, preoccupied by some other work, the idea suddenly pops in your head.  They say that its how the subconscious mind works, when the conscious mind is done processing it the subconscious starts working on it.
  
  I'm not sure about the explanation but it certainly happens to me that ideas come when I am doing other work and when I'm not thinking about it.  While stuck in middle of an article, I will start working on a different project or play around with some video game until an idea comes.
  

• CreativeWoman said on Jan 04, 2008....

  PT,
  Thank you for the explanation.  :-)
  
  Lions,
  I do walk away from things sometimes.  It's usually because I'm frustrated though.
  
  CW
  

Comment on "Brainstorming..."

Currently tagged	brainstorming ideas life subconscious conscious mind (Click to add tags below)
Tag this post	(Separate tags using commas, for example: New York, dating, vegetarian)
Your comment