Most exciting ideas die quietly between being thought and being told. This prompt asks you to put yours down on the page — in your own words, before you ration it for someone else's reaction. Just for the version of you who hasn't yet had it talked out of her.
Written down, an idea is harder to lose and easier to start.
Writing an exciting idea on the page externalises it without the risks that come with telling people too early. You get to see it as a small object you can examine — its shape, what's already there, what's missing — without losing energy to other people's questions. Often, the act of writing it gives you the next step too.
Useful when an idea has been pestering you for more than a week, before sharing it with anyone, or when you've been low on creative energy and a small spark has appeared. Also good when you've been overconsuming other people's ideas and need to stake out what's yours.
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Describe the idea in three or four plain sentences.
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Note what specifically excites you about it.
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Identify what's already in place — skills, tools, time.
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Name the smallest possible first version of it.
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Schedule one hour to begin, within the next week.
Other ways to ask the same thing
“What creative spark is asking to be named?”
“What's the new idea you don't want to let go of?”
“What thing in you wants to be made?”
Two traps: refining the idea so much on the page that it loses its strangeness, or treating it as a fully-formed project that needs a business plan. Leave it a little odd, a little small. The point is to claim it, not finish it.
Idea: a short, weekly newsletter — six paragraphs, no images — about overlooked corners of cities I've lived in, written like letters to a friend. Excites because: it combines walking, noticing, and writing — the three things I do best when nothing is asked of me. Already in place: I walk; I write; I have a friend who would honestly read a first draft. Smallest version: one issue, sent only to her, this Sunday. Schedule: Saturday, 9 to 10am, kitchen table, phone in another room.