HOW TO GET IDEAS OF WHAT TO WRITE

 ©️ Abonyi Hyginus Ebuka 

Being a content writer or a creative writer can be difficult and the easiest if you do not know or know how to sustain ideas to keep coming. A creative writer is one who does not copy what others have written but he is the master of writing that out of his mind, develops what he writes and flows from his own ideas and thinking. Content Writing is about focusing on a particular topic or theme which have been given to you.

Many people who come to me for mentorship or for me to be their coach normally ask me, how do you get the ideas of all these you are writing. Sometimes, I smile and respond, I do not know, it just comes but the real fact is that it doesn't come, you develop it and it takes time and patience.

Even those who are already writers sometimes do lack ideas of what to write. This is a period the mind seems to be an empty slate or tabularaza and no matter what you do, you cannot connect; do not worry if you cannot connect because without disconnecting, you cannot connect. I will in this short piece expose the secret of how to get ideas of what to write.

Writing is the easiest thing one can do if one falls in love with it. First, it is fun and gives happiness whenever you read what you wrote. It is more joyous when what you have written is making impact in the people that they reach to you to say thank you.

1. Listen very carefully:

One thing people do not understand that our ears have the capability to communicate or get information to the mind more than what we see. This is because the ears and the mind are closer more than that of our eyes. Mystics discovered this and so train their ears to hear from a distance to a far distance. Being a good listener will aid you get ideas of what you write. Bear in mind that listening is different from hearing. To hear is to get the sound and to listening is to understand the sound. It involves paying maximum attention when people are talking. Note this, whether someone is talking trash/ rubbish or not, just listen to him/her that trash the person is saying can be a writing point for you. It is unfortunate that nowadays we do not care to listen, we prefer talking and talking always without listening to others, makes us empty. 

2. Ask questions:

 It does not only stop in listening, also ask questions when necessary. Question asking makes you to go deep understanding  what you have listened to and this is only possible when the person whom you have listened to is present, but if not present, make research. You can also ask question to those people you feel are learned or have wisdom or knowledge in some certain matters which you are not conversant with. Question asking will give you more thought to think on. When Thales the first philosopher asked the question what is the ultimate principle for all reality, he didn't know that it will get him to think wild. Hence, you can also ask yourself question on certain matters and try to think over it. 

3. Read:

 It is a sad thing that the spirit of reading is gradually going down among the 21st century young people. One of my friends came to me one day and was dismal and he asked me, "come Hyginus, who do you think have time to read those long stuff you are writing, if it is not a joke or comedy, no one gets time to read now; reading long articles is becoming boring these days". Yes, he is saying the trust. People prefer to watch comedy rather than reading educational write-ups but read if you should know. My secondary school guardian and councillor will tell us those days, read anything you see even when you want to throw away you waste, try to read all the piece of papers, you might not know what is there. It does not stop in reading, you have to study what you are reading and by this it will assimilate into you. When you read, read with maximum attention and remove everything that will bring distractions to you like music, phone, television, etc. 

4. Make Research:

 He who does not have the spirit of research does not have the spirit of scholarship. Research increases your horizons. It will help you discover new things and even validate what you have learnt elsewhere. Thank God that with the advance in science and technology, research has been made easy. With your smart phone, you can stay anywhere you want and access any information you want but the problem is that many of us thinks that our smart phone is only for Facebook, Whatsapp and other social media or even for calls. Go to Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia and make your search on any topic you want. It will surprise you that countless of things have been written on that. Pick the things you want and be mindful of copying or plagiarism: Always try to cite your sources and make necessary acknowledgement.

5. Map-mind:

 You night wonder what map-minding is all about. From guessing, you know that a map is a diagrammatic representation of an area and so, map minding is simple, connecting ideas of what you want to write in your mind. It is like pondering over the theme of what you intend writing. It is the process of harnessing ideas inside one's mind. This is where you make a symbolic depiction where ideas, objects, themes, that are related are brought together in the mind. It helps you to visually organize information and also generate ideas. Do not just start writing, organize you writing first in your mind and start to write. You will discover that you flow.

These are just few tips, subscribe to this blog, I will be disclosing little by little things that will help you aid your writing skills