How I'm Getting Better at Generating Ideas as a Writer
The system that's greatly reduced how often I get writer's block
It’s said that one of the keys to being a great writer is being a great reader, so that’s what I’ve been working on. I’ve been managing to do it too, little by little, and I have two methods to thank for it, both of which I stumbled upon by happenstance.
Whether welcomed or not, much of the series of events I’ve undergone this year, have felt as though they were carefully picked out and timed for me, and this was no different. I can’t quite remember the series of videos that ultimately led me to a philosopher and YouTuber by the name of R.C. Waldun, but they were probably philosophy or creativity related. Anyway, my introduction to the channel was through a video titled, How to Keep A Commonplace Book — 2022 Edition, where he describes a method for tracking ideas and trains of thought as one reads. A space where different disciplines can hold conversations with one another.
He pleads the case for jotting things down in something called a commonplace book by arguing that having to take the time to physically write something down will encourage one to take more care with what ideas they choose to gather, instead of submitting to the inclination we have to write down every word we think may be important (many of which are likely unnecessary) when writing within a digital platform.
When perfect timing meets a newly re-immersed writer, what resulted was a version of myself that was eager to start my own commonplace journal. To be honest, that alone would have been more than enough, but almost as though it were a little cherry on top, I discovered another method to add to my arsenal when I stumbled upon aMedium articlethat introduced me to Zettelkasten.
Created by Nikolas Luhmann, a German sociologist and philosopher, it’s a method in which quotes and ideas are gathered on index cards and stored in one of those metal storage cabinets with a ton of drawers. A practice which seems pretty mundane at first glance gets more complex when learning of the ways in which the cards are organized. They’re categorized by commonalities found between different ideas. This was regardless of whether these ideas crossed industries.
Another goal of the method was to have notes that could be rearranged, and that were not limited to the more rigid confines of a notebook, or of a technological device, where the notes would more likely end up in chronological order, and would probably not be referred back to.
Luhmann chose to arrange the index cards not by category, but instead by “tags”. That way, each card could be connected to multiple different ideas. He didn’t just stop there though. He also linked the notes together, to make it even easier to see the connections between ideas.
Among other principles, the Zettlekasten method also encourages jotting ideas in your own words, so that it ensures you understand the ideas you’re writing at their core rather than just copying the words. That way, it’s easier to generate newer ideas if you’re already thinking about the concepts in your own terms, which is the entire point in Zettelkasten. There are also several other principles encouraged in the method, which are expanded on in the Medium article.
This was a method that required me to be honest with myself. Was I really going to keep up with a bunch of index cards? No. Was I going to invest in a cabinet or even containers for storing said index cards? Of course not. But I liked the idea of categorizing the connections between the ideas I was getting down.
The solution: add highlighted categories and my interpretations of the ideas I was gathering in my commonplace book. I could have the best of both worlds: the more organic, personal, and concise touch that comes with the commonplace book, and the more organized systems of the Zettelkasten method.
Did I use these methods to generate the ideas in this article? Yes. Yes I did.