I'm a huge advocate of saving idea snippets for later refinement. Doing this has saved me so much creative time over the years.
Sometimes, though, this strategy leads to a creative dead end.
I have a nearly 100 page Word file of blog article starters along with several sketchbooks loaded with ideas. These have been great resources, serving as a safety net when ideas or time are tight.
Yet, the ease with which I used to write the blog has evaporated over the past several months.
This is likely due to a whole variety of legitimate tugs on my time and mental energy. But instead of my idea trove helping me, the chore of sifting through it and thinking about what and how to edit the ideas has been more daunting than invigorating.
So I tried a new approach this weekend. I began with a brand new Word file, a few ideas written down this week, and pounded out 5 new articles Saturday evening, just like the early days. Freed from the creative baggage of feeling compelled to rescue ideas, words and ideas started flowing naturally again.
It comes back to a fundamental strategy: be willing to walk away from what has worked for you when it isn't working anymore. - Mike Brown
