Finding Ideas
Ideas don’t arrive fully formed. They emerge from paying attention, then following threads.
The beginner asks “what should I write about?” The practiced writer has the opposite problem — too many threads, not enough time. The difference isn’t talent. It’s developed attention.
Ideas come from friction. The place where what you expected meets what actually happened.
You read something and disagree. There’s an essay. You try something and it doesn’t work the way the manual said. There’s an essay. You notice something obvious that nobody talks about. There’s an essay.
No friction, no essay.
The sources that produce ideas:
Problems you’ve solved. When you figure something out — a technical challenge, a counterintuitive insight — you have material. The solution that took you hours can be transmitted in paragraphs.
Things you’ve noticed. Patterns nobody mentions. Contradictions people overlook. If you’ve noticed it, others have too. They’re waiting for someone to articulate it.
Things you’ve changed your mind about. What did you used to believe that you now think is wrong? The journey from old belief to new belief is a natural essay structure.
Things that annoy you. Strong negative reactions signal friction. What’s broken? Why does everyone accept this? Annoyance is often an undeveloped argument.
The capture habit: write ideas down immediately.
The thought that seems unforgettable at 2pm is gone by dinner. Carry a capture system. The medium matters less than the consistency.
Most captured ideas won’t become essays. That’s fine. You’re building a reservoir. When it’s time to write, you choose from inventory instead of starting from nothing.
Ideas improve through collision.
A single idea is thin. Two ideas in tension create something worth exploring. The essay about running becomes interesting when you notice it feels like meditation. The essay about cooking becomes interesting when you realize recipes are tacit knowledge transmission.
Read widely. The weird connections come from unexpected adjacencies.
The experienced writer’s problem: too many ideas, too little filtering.
Not every idea is worth an essay. The test: would you still want to write about this in a month? If yes, it’s real. If no, it’s momentary enthusiasm.
Some ideas need to sit. You capture something, it doesn’t feel ready, you set it aside. Months later, another thought arrives and you see how they connect. The essay was waiting for its missing piece.
Go Deeper
Books
- Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson — The adjacent possible and idea ecology.
- A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young — Short, classic, still true.
Essays
- “How to Get Startup Ideas” by Paul Graham — Solve your own problems.
- “The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius” by Paul Graham — Obsessive interest produces insight.
Related: writing, research, adjacent possible, scenius, flow