Member-only story
“How do you come up with your ideas?”
I was texting with a friend earlier today and we discussed writing, among other things. He asked me this:
You see my reply. End of story.
Well, I have to write something more elaborate here on Medium. But I summarized it so well in that text exchange.
I’m living my life. That’s it. In a strange way, writing is not a primary activity. I mean, it’s a derivative of living. If you have a beating heart, you probably have other senses. You observe life. A lot of things are happening in life. Millions and billions — literally. In your life, around you, and in the news. If you observe, you can probably write about your observations. Some readers will find your stories relatable, though I don’t advise thinking too much about what’s relatable and what’s not. I never do. I just write.
Maybe a kind of internal scale in my mind filters my observations. My dog is snoring right now upstairs, but I couldn’t write a story just about that, although I can point you to this video of my dog being very mischievous:
Oh dear, this is my third story today. I’m on a writing spree. It feels effortless. I’m sure some folks will be unsubscribing or unfollowing. That’s good too. Followers are good. Unsubscribers are good. It’s all life.
More about writing, living and running on my Substack:
