Reading to understand what’s possible
Too often, I sit on the chair in front of the laptop poised to write some brilliant idea for a short story. And… nothing comes.
I have found that it is not that I cannot get ideas. I get a lot of ideas. But the problem is that I have no idea what the previous masters have written. So I may have come up with some brilliant ideas as per the standards of fiction, but I discarded them because I thought they were not par with whatever arbitrary standards I have set in my mind.
That is why I am reading the works of other masters. And gradually, I am getting an idea of what they have written. I study their works and I understand how they write their stories. And sometimes I feel like, “Hey, I can come up with something like that.” That is a good feeling for sure. Like a bird learning how to flap its wings to fly.
I just have to expose myself to the works of others and that will teach me what I can write. I am sure that it will boost my confidence to come up with ideas faster. And also be better able to sort the good ideas from the shitty ones.
