Bill Conrad's Blog - Posts Tagged "creativity"

My family has had 1,000 watts of drama over the last months, but I do not wish to share my chaotic details because I am a private person. Umm, truth. I really want to share this mess and would value your input. Alright, alright. You deserve a hint. Borderline Personality Disorder. If you know somebody who suffers from this malady, you know how much destruction it causes.
The drama caused many painful emotions, angry thoughts and serious courses of action. It has caused multiple sleepless nights because my mind would not let the problems go. Anger was chief among my feelings and I was surprised how many great story ideas I developed during my angry thought process. Fortunately, I have learned to have a notepad handy and recorded many ideas, including eight article concepts, an entire chapter for an upcoming book and two short story ideas.
My idea for this article was to share my ideas and evaluate them, but as I looked at the chaos I reordered, it occurred to me that the ideas were not that great. But way? I decided to figure out what was going on.
I have always been a creative person and have had many great ideas over my lifetime. My highest periods of creativity occur when I exercise, go to sleep, and write. The more I thought about these specific activities, the more I realized they inspired different kinds and levels of creativity. Here is what I have learned about myself.
I used to think I got my best inspiration during bike rides and hikes. When I exercise, I let my mind drift while I explore nature and work my muscles. I am sure that during this time, my circulation improves, sweat expels things my body does not need, and my mind works at peak effectiveness. Why? Coordinating one’s feet during a hike or moving the handlebars on terrain is mentally challenging. Yet, this activity does not require pure mental power; it uses muscle memory. I equate this in computer terms when a graphics card does most calculations while the main processor acts like a symphony conductor.
I do not always get new ideas during my exercise, but I do think about many topics. Going along the trail is a perfect setting to identify, explore, and solve problems. Now, I save up problems for when I exercise and have found many great solutions. Yet my new article/plot ideas are unfocused (lofty), and only 30% are suitable for being written up.
Right before I go to sleep, I always think about my stories. This includes reviewing the plot, imagining the characters in situations, and devising book marketing solutions. I have concluded that my creative output is poor during this time.
Yet pre-sleep provides the perfect environment for getting comfortable with my plots and characters. This time allows me to develop details, connect ideas, and take pride in my creation. The result of my effort shines when I use my outline to write the story. I occasionally solve problems or develop something new, but it is rare. Also, as I am falling asleep, I often forget to record my ideas.
When I write, my creativity is cold and direct. My core focus is to evaluate the present sentence and, once satisfied, create the next. When I get stuck, I briefly distract myself or change locations to joggle my creativity. While writing or editing, I rarely get big ideas or solve big problems. Instead, I focus on grammar, flow, motive, and logic. Still, it feels good when I fix a flaw or have a creative moment.
To further define this time, I have an example. If a person asked me to sit down and write a story about unicorns, I would be lost. I might be able to develop a unicorn story during a bike ride, but it would not be significant. Yet, I know when I could think up a fantastic story about unicorns.
When I get angry, my creative output is raw and never-ending. I am sure the adrenaline is pumping through my veins, and my fight-or-flight mechanism is at full power. The result is a nuclear cluster bomb of thoughts, ideas, courses of action, and feelings.
When I calm down and evaluate my creations, I find them out of the box, illogical, uncompromising, and wacky. I estimate that 20% of this mess is helpful. Yet, the few gems certainly qualify as creative.
Of course, there is a problem with anger-inspired ideas. Being upset is not desirable, and I certainly do not wish to get angry for the intent of writing. Yet… I value this time, and when I am not angrily thinking about my core issue, I use this time to develop story ideas.
This article vetted many issues. I now know what to expect when I think about problems. I also know creativity is complex and inconsistent. Hey, that’s a creative conclusion.

You’re the best -Bill
July 03, 2024

Hey, book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:
Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.
Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.
Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.
Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.
These books are available in softcover on Amazon and in eBook format everywhere.

Writer’s block is when a writer cannot invent a topic to put to paper. Since I began my adventure, I have never seriously faced this issue. Why? Before I wrote my first book, I had been thinking about the story for 20+ years. I thoroughly understood the plot and did not get hung up during the writing process. I even had enough mental material for the next book in the series.
Yet… My first three books were dumpster fires, which needed severe editing. Fortunately, I discovered outlines before writing my fourth book. This saved me months of editing and vastly improved the quality.
Everything (except marketing) went fine until I got to my eighth and ninth books. They are stuck at the outline stage. For the first time, I am having difficulty creating a basic story. The heart of the matter is that I know the general plot, but the specifics connecting the core concept are nonexistent. I believe this problem is indeed writer’s block.
I have tried three different methods to jog my creative juices. My first idea was to ignore the outline for a week and then confront it. Over time, this procedure vetted some issues, but the core problem remained. My next idea was to talk to my mother (my beta reader) and two fellow authors about the plot. This discussion teased out some good ideas, but I was still stuck. My third idea was to start over with a clean outline. I boldly did this three times, and this technique was the most successful, but I was still stuck.
My core issue remains. I know the basic plot, but there are big holes. I researched what other authors do to overcome writer’s block for this article. The helpful websites suggested scheduling writing time, reading, exercising, forcing writing, and accepting flawed work. Another website recommended talking to a fellow author and using existing material as a starting point.
Girrr. I have learned the hard way never to force myself to write. My life has always had a strict schedule with time set aside for writing, and I do not accept flawed work. Now what? Time to try something new.
A week ago, inspiration hit. ChatGPT. Wait, wait. It’s not what you think. In addition to outlines, I also have developed brief character biographies. So, I wrote ChatGPT, “This is a character biography for Kim (insert). She has problem X. List ways to solve X.” The results were unsatisfying, so I typed, “retry.” It only took three retries to find something that was interesting. Then, I asked ChatGPT to expand that concept. Next, I asked ChatGPT to recommend obstacles for my characters and situations they might encounter.
The experience felt like speaking with a con artist. ChatGPT was trying its best to generate something that would entice me. This feels like talking to a con artist (an expert BS generator). ChatGPT rarely creates something with substance, but every result sounds impressive.
Generator is the perfect word to describe ChatGPT. For example, only so many situations make a person angry. Betrayal, loss, failure… ChatGPT has a database of these situations and connects them with other database parts. Anger caused Kim stress, so she walked around her neighborhood to think about the issue. A failed business caused Kim’s heartache, and she solved it by starting a new business.
ChatGPT provided many ideas, and I plugged them into my outline. It took a week to make my outline for both books strong enough to analyze. I estimate that in 2 months, I will have the confidence to write a first draft.
Important side note: I do not use ChatGPT for writing. Why? Using an AI program to write is not the point. My writing is my writing. Yes, my creations have flaws, but they are from my heart.
Well, is it fair to use a ChatGPT-generated plot? I do not look at the situation this way. I like to think of it as talking to a patient person about my plot with the intent of getting ideas. Also, I did not ask ChatGPT to invent a plot. “Tell me a story about unicorns.” I feel this kind of generated inspiration would be crossing an ethical line. Alright, truth. If I tried that and ChatGPT came up with a better plot than what I was capable of, I would feel defeated.
I suppose I have created a new method for tackling writer’s block. It may not apply to everyone, but I hope my idea will help a few writers develop something wonderful.

You’re the best -Bill
July 10, 2024

There is so much conflict, but it is not supposed to be this way. After all, we set up the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions with dedicated leaders who were charged with mitigating conflict, promoting peace, saving humanity, and ensuring prosperity. Plus, the internet is an astounding invention that brings everybody together. There should be no reason for the present devastation. Yet, some people were not surprised, and they even predicted these horrific conflicts.
These predictors go by many names: futurists, fortune tellers, fiction writers, palm readers, prophets, psychics, gamblers, oddsmakers, investors, estimators, or spiritualists. How do they make such predictions? They use past and present knowledge to understand what might happen. Their results depend on individual skill, luck, and the topic they are estimating. For example, I have a friend whose only income is horse betting. So, indeed, he accurately predicts the future well enough to make a living.
The topic I wanted to discuss came from watching the beginning of the movie Ready Player One. The plot is set in a dystopian future where everybody uses The Oasis, an interactive three-dimensional space where anything is possible. The dystopian aspect comes from the predicted reality that such technologies make everybody poor.
The line stuck in my bonkers mind is: “After the corn syrup droughts, after the bandwidth riots.” This was the event that the screenwriter/author invented to set up a dystopian future. This means that corn syrup ran out at some point, which caused great hardship. Why this particular event?
Authors and screenwriters develop crazy ideas to show a fantastic, average, or dismal future. In the sixties television show The Jetsons, the father has a flying car. In The Terminator, the world has become a battlefield against intelligent robots. So, a corn syrup drought does not seem like a big stretch. Yet, it is a prediction, meaning that corn syrup could be in short supply in the distant future. If this occurs, the plot of Ready Player One is possible.
Well, what if it did? The year is 2030 (six years away), and suddenly, bam! No corn syrup. This means we cannot buy candy, pies, soda, or jam. Umm, that does not seem like a big problem. A nuclear war seems like a better starting point for a dystopian plot.
So, why this particular event? I guess the author/screenwriter wanted us to think, “Hmm, that’s amusing and in line with this kind of plot.” Not too serious, like The Terminator, and not too funny, like The Jetsons. Right in the middle of the entertainment spectrum.
How likely is a corn syrup drought to occur? I would answer low, but anything is possible. Yet, that is not quite why the line stuck in my bonkers mind. Big surprise! I am noodling a plot for an upcoming book set 100 years from now. It is a dystopian romance between a robot and a human. My concept is that the economy is in ruins, and people blame robots. How do I set this up?
My first step was taking a high-level view of existing works, including the movie Ready Player One. I got the idea of adapting this line to inspire my plot. “After the fall of Chuck E. Cheese.” Quirky, funny, but not romantic. “After the great election crisis of 2112.” Getting there. “After the last embers of humanity had fallen.” Ooo, wrong direction. “After the last person posted a YouTube video.” Good, keep going. “When robots were finally able to join the union.” A little off, but getting there. “Remember when having a billion dollars meant something?” Closer. Try combing with that YouTube angle. “When YouTube stopped paying their creators and started paying robots.”
This kind of abstract thinking is precisely what the author/screenwriter did when they created that line. It embodies the perfect balance between reality and silliness.
What does it all mean? I have developed a quirky plot development tool. Is this something that you could use? That is about as unlikely as a corn syrup drought leading to a dystopian future with an alternate reality three-dimensional computer living space.
I wrote this article to get myself thinking in the right mindset and bring you along for the ride. Not all topics and techniques for getting ideas must be serious, but keeping our minds open to new ideas, possibilities, and viewpoints is essential. This is how we evolve, grow, learn, overcome obstacles, and tolerate issues. My real goal is to end this with “made you think!”

You’re the best -Bill
October 30, 2024

I recently came across an article describing the perfect writing space. In summary: “Sit in a giant fluffy bean bag with pen in hand.” Lying in a cozy spot only makes me want to fall asleep, so I thought it would be fun to describe my writing space and schedule.
Writing is a right-brain (creative) activity. These mental tools focus on social situations, nuance, and bringing imagination to words. I have learned the hard way that forcing myself to write only leads to disaster. Yet, I have seen people writing in Starbucks. So, there is room for alternative approaches.
At the beginning of my writing adventure, I had a plan regarding my writing place. It begins with a plain particle board desk from Ikea. It is clean and faces a window with closed blinds. On my desk are a few pens, Post-its, and only one trinket, a silly air quality detector. Yes, I am a geek. On the left side is a paper scanner, and on the right is my computer. In front are three identical monitors. The left is positioned portrait, center landscape, and right portrait. I write on the left, do automated (Grammarly) editing on the center, and copy/paste on the right. When I purchased the monitors, they had the highest contrast, which would reduce eye strain.
My computer is eight years old, but it was a powerhouse when I purchased it. Today, it still runs the latest operating system with the latest updates. When it becomes too bogged down, unreliable, or will not run the latest OS, I will upgrade. From a writing perspective, the keyboard is the most crucial part of my computer. It is a Unicomp that uses the same buckling-spring technology that IBM invented for their keyboards in the early 70s. Each key makes a loud ping/click noise when I type, which provides audio feedback. As a result, I type fewer errors. My mouse is a Logitech Trackman Marble, and they stopped producing them in the 2000s, so I must purchase them on eBay. This pointing device reduces hand strain and provides good finger feedback. I have mapped the center button to paste.
I only installed the essential programs and kept them updated. This includes Word, Excel, Visio, Corel Draw, Outlook, Firefox (my primary browser), Edge (for one website that will not work on Firefox), Rocketcake (my website developer program), and Acrobat Professional. I do not install free programs or shareware because I do not want to risk stability or data loss. When I need to run something nonstandard, I use an old computer. Overall, I would describe my computer as 100% utility. My computer is not a gamer, workstation, or business desktop.
Since I began writing, I have had three office chairs. The first one was free from a company going out of business. It was comfortable, but it fell apart after two years. I paid $$$ for the second one, and while comfortable, it only lasted for a year and left hundreds of black fake leather bits everywhere. I am still finding them four years later. True Innovations made my present office chair; I purchased it at Costco. It has grey vinyl and adjusts well to my posture. I find it solid, and it does not squeak. I anticipate it will last a few years, but there was a mistake. I should have purchased three.
To me, writing is all business, but where is the joy? The joy comes from creating the words; the space supports this activity, so my space does not have clutter or frills. But where is the inspiration? When I turn to my right, I have a bookshelf loaded with personal memories, including family pictures and random stuff. This junk includes old test equipment, a professional video camera, ceramics made by my father, and a few record albums. I sometimes turn to this shelf for a distraction when I get stuck.
Writing is my third priority, the first being my family and the second being my full-time job. Still, I treat writing as a profession and try to reserve at least three hours per day on weekdays and two on weekends. My best writing is in the morning and early afternoon, but my job makes this problematic, so I write late.
The biggest disrupter of my creativity is YouTube. Yet, it is the perfect distraction to free my mind when I get stuck—a strange double-edged sword. What I need to do is set a distraction time limit. Yeah, I will work on that.
What do I watch? Politics, tractor repair (I have no idea why this fascinates me. My yard is 5x10 feet, and I will never own a tractor.), old computers, China, Ukraine, machining, and electronics. I do not watch videos about writing, entertainment, or other creative outlets.
That is how my bonkers mind creates what you have been reading. What advice do I have for other writers? Writing is like any other activity. To be good at it, one must take a high-level view with a goal in mind. This means asking questions, recording data, doing experiments, changing bad behavior, listening, researching, trying new things, and being dedicated. It has taken a long time to figure out what works for me, and it should be no surprise that other writers have come to different conclusions. A good example is George R. R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones, who uses a DOS computer with WordStar 4.0. Yikes! Yet, he created an outstanding work.
Hmm. Perhaps I should do an eBay search for WordStar 4.0.

You’re the best -Bill
December 10, 2024

Hey, book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:
Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.
Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.
Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.
Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.
These books are available in softcover on Amazon and in eBook format everywhere.

I recently wrote the article, My 30+1 Writing Resources. In the first draft, I listed my most crucial resource, my brain. This marvelous tool allows me to write, edit, and publish stories, but I did not include it because the single entry became too involved. Instead, I am dedicating an entire article to the topic.
Let’s begin at the beginning. Like everybody, I was conceived and then grew into a baby. My brain formed, and thoughts occurred. Soon, I did something for the first time. I fell asleep and had a dream. It was probably not impressive. I certainly do not remember. As I evolved, my eyes formed, and my dreams became more complex. Soon, I developed an imagination.
I remember creating many stories as a child and still think about those early concepts. They revolved around me doing exciting activities such as climbing trees, exploring trails, being on television shows, and playing with friends. Saturday morning cartoons typically inspired the basic plots.
Over time, my stories became longer and more complex. Later, I added more characters and introduced romance. I did not write any of these stories until a ninth-grade class assignment. It was about a boy and a cheetah living separate lives. I was proud of my creation and wish I had a copy, but a computer crash deleted all my high school efforts.
In college, I took a creative writing course and developed interesting content, but this was where my formal creative efforts ended. While writing fiction was fun, my life path was learning everything about electronics.
Now, I must take a step back and consider other writers. I assume their paths followed my beginning. The future authors, as kids, also enjoyed creating stories, but they wrote more. When others read their creations, they said, “Wow, that’s pretty good. You should try selling them.” The kids were inspired, and this devotion challenged their imagination. One day, the kid became an adult and showed their story to somebody, leading to a publication.
Instead, I used my ability to lull myself asleep and relieve boredom. I knew my story creation ability and felt using it for anything beyond amusement was suitable. Over the years, I developed four well-thought-out plots and would probably be doing this today, except for a healthy bout of unemployment that allowed me to become an author in 2017.
For this article, I wanted to document my story’s invention process. It begins with a single thought. This might include something I see or a topic I want to explore. It might have been something like making and driving a race car at a young age. Still, now my topics are more complex, like complex relationships, alien societies, unusual situations, or a unique character. For example, “What if there was a planet only inhabited by robots?” “A quiet history teacher who used to be a secret agent.” “What would happen if I went back in time and met my grandfather as a kid?” “How would an underwater society function?” It is important to note that these are single concepts instead of a plot. “The hero flies to a distant planet and saves the princess.”
Once I have a base for something, I take one small step forward. “The history teacher worked for the CIA.” Then, I relive the story from the beginning and alter the concept to make it more interesting. This is an iterative process, where I add and subtract elements until a plot forms. To explain, let’s examine one thoroughly vetted story I developed 20 years ago.
One day, my boss told me I was laid off. What a blow! I immediately left work and walked on the beach to calm my angry/sad thoughts. (Yes, this was during work hours, and I was wearing nice work clothes.) As I walked, I kicked the sand, muttered foul words about my company, and threw rocks at the waves. Along my path of misery, I wondered if anybody else was in the same situation. Not seeing anybody with a sign that read, “I was laid off. Ask me how.” I was inspired to invent a story.
A man was walking down the same beach while thinking about losing his job. Now what? Two angry women were also walking along the same beach. He saw their expressions, and they saw his.
He glared at them and pointed to a rock. Curious, the woman sat. He vented, and they vented. This was followed by silence and no eye contact. They walked to his car together, and the man apologized for venting. “What are you going to do now?” one woman asked. “Be here tomorrow.”
That evening, I thought about my little creation and relived the plot. In the process, I added details, changed dialog, and thought about what would happen next. This process continued for months.
It turns out that one woman was a banker and the other a biologist. They met in a yoga class. More plot. They had an idea to make money by starting a Hong Kong bank. More plot. The man, a computer programmer, wanted to help. More plot. They moved to Hong Kong and started a currency exchange bank, which was wildly successful. More plot. Umm? I guess they parted ways? Umm, I got nothing else. My story had a (in my humble opinion) great beginning and part of the middle. The ending was utterly worthless.
This is the fundamental flaw in my ability. I begin at the beginning and then build. Thus, the middle and ending never get enough attention. Eventually, I got bored and started working on a new concept.
To fill the story gaps, I rely on a different creative process. I ride my bike or hike while thinking about a specific story aspect. This might include motivation deficiency, a logic problem, or a weak character. “Why did Mitch want to rob a bank?” “What’s Sally going to do next?” “What would make Dan more interesting?” In these focused moments, I have found the memo recording function on my phone to be super helpful.
What I lack is the ability to initiate the spark. For example, I would be at a loss if you asked me to write a basic story about a boy and a unicorn. I doubt I could invent a D-grade story even with a year of focused effort. I know some people have this ability, but it is far beyond what I can conceive.
I read many articles about the creative writing process to improve my ability. Some writers begin with a strong character and wrap a plot around it. Others focus on the setting or historical time and then create a plot that fits. I imagine that is how Western and period romance authors begin their projects. Still, others write on the fly and then edit their creation down to something usable. Learning about other techniques was interesting, but my mind does not work that way.
One big lesson I learned is not to force writing. If I am not in the mood, I immediately stop. To me, writing is not like lifting weights. “Work through the pain, and you will get stronger.” I visualize it like taking a pleasure walk. The more leisurely walks I take, my body slowly improves, allowing longer walks.
Why spend effort on defining my creative mind? Anyone desiring to improve an aspect of their lives must understand their tools. For example, I spent years understanding the mathematics behind electronics. The same could be said of an auto mechanic learning about combustion chemistry or a portrait painter understanding perspective.
A writer only has their brain, and I have spent many hours thinking about thinking. Why did I do X? Why did that person do Y? What motivated Z? How do I develop ideas? What mistakes did my last story have? How can I improve my writing process?
Why did I write this article? Explaining how my chaotic mind works will not help anybody, but that was not the point. I wanted to provide a baseline of how I create, with the idea that my method would inspire others to think about their creative process. At the very least, I made you think.

You’re the best -Bill
January 22, 2025