Trying to find an idea...

Trying to find an idea for a piece of writing is like…

…going in an attic, full of dust and cobwebs. Looking through the boxes piled up there, opening chests and trunks, hoping to find a treasure, a jewel. Rummaging through old, torn, clothes, that can never be used again, but still have been kept, for one reason or another. Coming across, from time to time, an interesting piece of furniture, or a souvenir from a holiday, several years ago. And trying to decide, what can be recycled, what can be given a second life. What can become an idea.

…opening a cupboard, expecting to find a box of triple chocolate cookies. But only finding a solitary piece of very old, very green, very mouldy, very smelly Camembert cheese. And realising that somebody else has already eaten all the cookies.

…picking flowers in a meadow to create a bouquet. Finding, sometimes, tall sunflowers and fragrant roses. Purple foxgloves and cornflowers. Poppies and daisies and buttercups. Or finding nothing at all. Having enough to create a small posy. Adding ferns and longgrasses to make a more interesting arrangement. And there are days when the bouquet is wonderful and harmonious, and others when nothing fits together, nothing works.

…trying to come up with a new recipe. Using elements from tried and tested ones. Putting them together, experimenting. Hoping to come up with a bold and delicious new dish, but sometimes it is uneatable, and sometimes you realise it has already been done before and you have invented nothing. 

 …exploring a deep dark wood, in the middle of which, it is said, there is a lake, well worth the trouble of a long hike. But the path leading to it is not direct and there are many crossroads, many byways. And you risk losing yourself in this deep dark wood, going round and round in circles, until the night falls and you haven’t reached the lake.

…planting seeds in a garden, from a packet with no label. Will flowers grow? Or vegetables? An apple tree? A pear tree maybe? You water them, you watch over them. You wait for spring and warm sunshine. For rain to nourish the damp earth. Budding green leaves; but still you don’t know. What will you get?

…eating the last crumbs of a tasty cake. Wanting again to find the taste that you enjoyed so much. Again, again, until the dish is licked quite clean. And you find yourself with an empty plate.

Trying to find an idea for a piece of writing, an article, a short story, a novel, fiction or non fiction, is hard. Trying to find an idea for a piece of writing is staring at a blank page, trying to decide if your knowledge or your imagination will be enough. That’s what I did and found it was not so: trying to find an idea is sometimes realising you do not have any. So what do I write about? Trying to find an idea…