Sometimes ideas can come from the unlikeliest of source material. I’ve spoken previously about free writing and how I use that to come up with ‘brain dump’ style ideas without filtering them, and how ideas can take a while to percolate in the brain – a technique used by Stephen King and John Cleese, among others.

Another opportunity for getting ideas is in seeing connections where you wouldn’t expect them.

For example, I was recently reviewing my collection of ties and wondering if I should organize them into a more structured order, such as by color and pattern, than the haphazard way they are currently strewn over my tie hanger.

That’s when it occurred to me that this kind of pattern recognition is probably quite a subjective thing. Not everyone will see colors, patterns etc. the same way as me – which is something to keep in mind when creating anything we’re expecting other people to be able to understand.