Bad Ideas

It's easy to get lost in uncertainty, anxiety and self doubt when creating something. I often find myself spinning my wheels when working on a story, character, or what have you.

An interesting technique that I use all the time is the TEN BAD IDEAS list.

It goes like this: for whatever you're stuck with, write a list of ten BAD ideas. What are ten bad ideas for an ending? What are ten bad ways to resolve a scene? What are ten bad ideas for a monster or villain?

As someone who often starts doubting and prejudging everything I want to do, I find myself using this approach several times a week.

Clearly, the idea is to let you off the hook for coming up with bad ideas. To put that internal inner editor aside, take the pressure off, and let yourself play around a little bit.

The ideas are to be written without too much detail, in point form, and they don't HAVE to be good. The whole point is for them to be bad!

Of course, in writing down ten ideas, there's a strong chance there will be something GOOD in there!

I'm not sure how often I've used the ideas from my many, many Bad Idea lists, but it's a fantastic exercise, lots of fun, and most importantly, keeps me writing!

Sort of.

Hope you have a good Thursday!
-Banes