How to keep ideas flowing: Isaac Asimov's advice

Isaac Asimov's autobiography It’s Been a Good Life has some useful lessons. Azimov himself did not immediately start writing eight hours a day, seven days a week. Just like us, he tore out pages, got angry, and started over and over. In his autobiography, the author shared the tactics he developed to ensure that ideas never end.

1. Don't Stop Learning

Asimov was not only a science fiction writer. He had a PhD in chemistry from Columbia University. He wrote about physics, ancient history, and even the Bible.

Unlike many modern "professionals", Azimov did not stop studying with a diploma.

I might not have been able to write so many books based on school knowledge alone. I had to continue to educate myself. My library of books that I turned to grew, and I pored over them, because I was constantly afraid that I might misunderstand something ridiculously simple for those who understand the subject.

Isaac Asimov

To generate good ideas, we must consume good ideas. A diploma is not at all the end of training, but only the beginning.

Azimov read everything.

All this incredibly varied reading has left its indelible mark. My interests stretched in twenty different directions, and all these interests remained. I have written books on mythology, the Bible, Shakespeare, history, science and so on.

Isaac Asimov

Read more, follow your curiosity. Never stop investing in yourself.

2. Don't fight stagnation

Like the rest of us, Azimov often got stuck.

Often, when I was working on a science fiction story, I got tired of it from the bottom of my heart and was unable to write even one more word.

Isaac Asimov

It's okay to stop. What happens next, our reaction to it, is what separates the professional from the amateur.

Azimov did not allow himself to be stopped. Over the years, he developed a strategy.

I don't stare at blank sheets of paper. I don't waste days and nights trying to get ideas out of my head. Instead, I just leave the story and move on to one of a dozen works that are on the agenda. I am writing a newspaper column, an essay, a short story, or working on one of my nonfiction books. When I get tired of it, my brain becomes able to do the job right and refills again. I return to my story and write it with ease.

Isaac Asimov

How the brain works is a mystery. When we step back, doing other projects and deliberately ignoring something, our subconscious creates space for ideas to grow.

3. Beware of resistance

Everyone who creates something knows the fear of shaping their ideas. Having once brought something to the world, we forever open it up for denial and criticism.

This fear is extremely dangerous for creativity. Let's call it resistance. Azimov was also familiar with this feeling.

The average writer is prone to insecurity. Does the sentence he just wrote make sense? Is his thought expressed as well as it could? Would it sound better if it had been written differently? Therefore, the average writer always changes something, cuts off, trying to use different ways of expressing himself, and, as far as I know, is never completely satisfied.

Isaac Asimov

Self-doubt is the killer of our mind. Fear of rejection makes us perfectionists. But this perfectionism is just a shell. We get into it in difficult times for us, it gives us a sense of security, but it is self-deception.

Each of us has ideas. The difference between Azimov and others is that we reject our ideas before we give them a chance. After all, only a lack of ideas guarantees that they will never fail.

4. Lower your standards

Azimov was against following the ideal. Trying to get it right on the first try, he says, is a big mistake. Instead, it's worth starting out with the basics.

Think of yourself as an artist sketching to decide what composition, color, and everything else should be. Once you've done this, you can think about the final version.

Isaac Asimov

In other words, don't try to draw the Mona Lisa in one sitting. Lower your standards. Make a test product, temporary sketch, or draft.

At the same time, Azimov notes self-confidence.

A writer cannot just sit back and doubt the quality of his creation. Rather, he should love what is written. I love.

Isaac Asimov

Believe in your creation. This does not mean that you should do it perfectly or not do it at all. Real confidence is about pushing boundaries, a terrible failure, and the ability to rise again. Yes, we fall and suffer. This is why we are successful.

5. Do more

Interestingly, Asimov also recommended doing more things as a cure for perfectionism.

By the time a book is published, the writer has no time to worry about how it will be accepted or how it will be sold. By this time, he has already sold several other books and is working on new ones, that's all he cares about. It brings peace and tranquility to his life.

Isaac Asimov

If you have a new product coming out in a few weeks, then there is simply no time to dwell on failure. If something fails, it doesn't hurt that much. Diversification is insurance of the mind.

6. Remember the secret ingredient

An aspiring writer, a friend of Azimov, asked him where he got his ideas from. Azimov replied: “Reflecting, and contemplating, and contemplating until I am ready to kill myself. […] Did you think getting a good idea is easy?"

Isaac spent many nights alone with his mind.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I lay there thinking about the article I was about to write and thinking and thinking and crying in sad places. My night was great.

Isaac Asimov

Nobody ever said that coming up with good ideas is easy. If this were so, then they would lose all meaning.