“If you need ten of something, make thirty. Then pick the best.”
-Rick Rubin
This quote has become the foundation of my creative process. Especially when it comes to dealing with blocks. If I don’t know where to start or if I’m feeling stuck, I have to remind myself that this is a numbers game. Instead of fixating on quality, I need to focus on quantity.
Which can feel a little uncomfortable at first, because that’s the opposite of the mindset that’s been drilled into us. But the fact of the matter is, creative blocks don’t occur because we’ve run out of ideas. They happen when we convince ourselves we’re not having any good ideas.
But you can’t generate and evaluate at the same time. That’s a great way to burn a lot of fuel without actually getting anywhere. Those two parts of your brain are not friends. You can hang out with each of them separately, but they have no business being in the same room together.
Think of them like Vin Diesel and The Rock…
The easiest way for me to brainstorm without judgment is to set a time limit and make a list. Identify the problem that needs to be solved or the question that needs to be answered, determine the minimum number of possible solutions you’re going to force yourself to come up with, and then hit that timer.
I suggest an absolute bare minimum of ten entries, but more is better. You want to pick a number that feels a little daunting. There are two reasons for this…
The first is that 85-90% of this list is going to wind up being total crap. That’s okay! Again, this is about quantity. The more keys you’re holding when this is over, the better the odds are you’re going to find the one that unlocks this door.
The second reason is that you’re going to burn through all of the obvious options pretty quickly. After you’ve done that, the list is still half-empty, and the clock’s ticking… that’s when the magic starts to happen.
This is why you shouldn’t stop even if you’re certain you’ve just had your best idea. Remember, we’re not evaluating yet. Or if you reach the end of your list and there’s still time left, don’t put that pen down. In both instances, you want to keep going.
When it comes to setting a time limit, the number of minutes is roughly half the number of ideas I’m trying to generate. That’s what I’ve found works best for me. So for instance…
50 screenplay ideas in 25 min.
or…
20 newsletter post topics in 10 min.
Those are actual examples of how I’ve put this into practice. And you can scale this up or down to accommodate any creative goal. In fact, I used to do a way less formal version of this without even realizing it.
As far back as college, whenever I was working on a story or screenplay, I’d make a list of possible locations for a scene to take place. The point was to get all of the boring and derivative options out of my system to see if I could hit upon something more interesting. So…
A private eye who operates out of a stuffy old office with wood paneling and horizontal blinds? Sure, of course. It’s the first image your imagination conjures up. But what if he worked out of an old bowling alley? Or an abandoned movie theater? Or a bakery?
Once I’m looking over a list like that, it starts to reveal or change things about the character or story in really interesting ways. New possibilities emerge and it starts to feel less like something I’ve seen seen, read, or heard before.
I actually just did this for something I’m working on right now. My outline was feeling a little stale and I decided to see what would happen if I made a list of other occupations my main character could have. How would that change things? What new story opportunities might that unlock?
Quite a few, it turns out! There was even one that was so wrong for this particular project but still so intriguing that it inspired a brand-new story.
I’ve also adapted this technique for songwriting (looping part of a song, coming up with a dozen different melodies for the vocals, then seeing which one is still stuck in my head the next day), photography (choosing a destination, setting a time limit, and finding as many interesting subjects as I can), and painting (making a list of adjectives that describe the work of an artist I admire and then selecting a few of them to inspire whatever I do next).
You can apply this however you like, but remember…
Generate, then evaluate.
That’s the key. We want to stop treating our ideas like we’re a bouncer outside a club lifting the velvet rope for a select few. The point of this exercise is that everyone standing in line gets through. Then, once you’re at capacity, you decide who among that crowd gets moved into the VIP lounge.
If you want to have more good ideas, you need to have more bad ideas first.
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
- Thomas Edison
Take care, friends. Talk to you soon.