Image
courtesy of www.7ideas.net
This article came up after I had an ideagasm while reading the transcription of Chip Kidd’s TED talk
(The Art of First Impressions in Design and Life) video in which the word was
mentioned.
For a while now, the blog has been idle due to inactivity or
what my good friend have referred to as not just a ‘block’ but a ‘writer’s idea
block’. He may be correct because it has actually been months since my last upload.
Although there should be no excuse for the little community of readers; there
actually is. I have been sent on the mandatory National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) programme here in Zamfara state and my routine have been slightly
skewed, hence little or no time to write.
Back to the article, The term “ideagasm” is a merger of two
words ‘idea’ and ‘orgasm’ which simply stands for the orgasmic feeling when
one’s mind becomes impregnated with ideas or better still, the feeling that
comes with an “Eureka” moment (Ikeji, 2015). For a writer, this is one of those
times we cherish as we just go ahead and put pen to paper; letting it flow.
Writer’s block is a phenomenon which many writers like me
detest. You just want to pen something down but have no idea on how to go about
it. My longest block was for over 4 months after which I stumbled and fell on
an inspiration which made me experience one of my memorable ideagasm as a budding writer. The
product of that idea, later led to an article which made the content editor for
the Jobberman blog then, contact and had me submit articles which were
published on a weekly basis some time ago. I may not be an expert on idea
generation for writers but these few generators I am about to share have worked
for me and could be helpful to budding writers lacking ideas or suffering from
‘the block’. Thank me later!
Other people’s
material: I would like to place a disclaimer here that this is in no way
supporting or advocating for plagiarism. What I simply mean by this is that by
reading other people’s material, you may experience an ideagasm maybe from a new word or from how a sentence is
constructed and from there; you could be typing over a thousand words. The
Forbes website, Ted.com and a plethora of news stories have been helpful to me
in the past and still are. Remember: If you are not reading, you are not
writing.
Use of Apps:
Sounds funny right? But it is serious business as app developers have come up
with apps that can help you generate titles for your work when you put in key
words. Some of these apps suggest titles for your work and proffer additional
information that you may find helpful. One of these apps which I just came
across and got to like is named Portent. A little keyword search on Google
would redirect you to their site for download. Others are Hubspot, Buzzsumo,
etc.
Knowledgeable
discussions: Being observant while certain discussions are ongoing is one
of a budding writer’s biggest tools. There are a thousand and one stories and
articles from “knowledgeable” discussions with friends, in a formal/informal setting
or even in a meeting. I started writing an article on Nigeria and the nuclear
energy issue after seeing one news story on SouthAfrica’s new nuclear plants
just yesterday. That story spurned a discussion amongst the people in that room
with me and an argument ensued on whether the country is ripe for nuclear
energy or not. I spoke when the need be, put pen to paper and then jotted down
salient points for my next article.
Every writer’s nightmare -the block- could arise from a lack
of ideas but incorporating simple rituals as the ones stated above could see
you having a long lasting writing life.
Keep writing!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow @victorikeji on Twitter
