Writing is easy

I used to fear the blank canvas. I still do. 

Flashback to my elementary days, I dreaded writing for my Formal Theme Book. 

I had no idea how to write. 

"Get the core. write in 5 paragraphs." my teachers would instruct me. 

Perhaps it was the rigidity that frightened me. Ha, the irony! (because I can be rather rigid with rules)

I had no idea how to write. But I wrote. I was pressured to write. I had to write. 

or else, I would fail. 

I had bad experiences with writing. I would get lazy and ask my mom to write it... only to realize my mom, too, wasn't good with her grammar. I asked my friend to read it and she told her how awful the grammar and syntax was (sorry mom!). 

But that didn't stop me from writing. I liked to write stories. Even if people couldn't relate to them or the characters I created. 

Then in 2010, in the midst of a heartbreak, I discovered Julia Cameron's Morning Pages. 

I followed what she preached. I found myself writing 3 pages everyday. It was a grueling routine. I would wake up at 5 AM and write for 3 pages. 

2010-2012 were years dedicated to heartbreak, Acne, Board Exam, and my webcomic dreams. 

I was never consistent in this practice. I'd forget about it. Really. 

A few days later, I would find myself really cranky and I would turn to my notebook and pen to write. The effect was therapeutic, and I have not looked back since then. 

Last year, I discovered James Altucher and I tried his "10 ideas a day". I experimented and was consistent in doing to for 7 months. By the 8-10 month, I became inconsistent. The experience taught me something valuable. 

It's easy to generate ideas. The only question is, Is it Good or Bad?

The practice also taught me how to be comfortable with bad ideas.

Now, wow did this practice affect my writing ability?

I ignored the proper punctuation marks I learned in my formal school years. 

I chose to write in my voice. If my writing actually had a voice. 

After 6 months of writing, I discovered that writing was easy. You can write anything. As long as you don't judge it. 

The moment you have judged yourself, you have rendered your writing ability a death sentence. 

I'm speaking from my personal perspective though. 

Blogging daily helps me. Even if I don't actually blog everyday. 

Two reasons I started to blog daily were to instill discipline and to be proud that I had produced a body of work. I would have never created 30 plus blogposts in 2 months if I followed my usual routine of "I'll just write and post when I feel like it."

It didn't work for me. 

But "I'll write 2 or 3 posts today and schedule them. Then maybe tomorrow I can write another 2 or 3 more entries and schedule them again." worked. 

It works for me, and that's why I'm hammering my keyboard, churning out for ideas. 

The contents of the blog are a different matter. Looking over my published posts, it's a salad of ideas. I envy bloggers who have found their niche, and who can monetize their niche.

Me? I'm still wondering how I can do it. 

Everyone has their own pace. 

Status Unlocked: Idea Machine!

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

― Maya Angelou

I used to think she was lying.

One day, I just grabbed my notebook and wrote 10 ideas. 

Eight months later, I'm continue to write. This time I average at 30-80 ideas a day. 

That's approximately 7,200 ideas to 19,200 ideas a day since I started.

I haven't stopped, nor do I have plans to stop. 

But the credit doesn't belong to Maya Angelou, she has only validated what James Altucher preached.

"Write 10 ideas a day until your head hurts. 

Do this daily. I guarantee you, you will become an Idea Machine"

The 10 ideas a day is part of the mental muscle of James Altucher's Daily Practice. 

To live holistically, you need to work on the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional parts in life. 

The purpose of writing 10 ideas is to strengthen your idea muscle. Think of it as bodybuilding.

A highly muscular body is capable of lifting heavier weights. 

A highly muscular idea muscle is capable of giving you ideas that could change your life. 

 10 life changes after using my Idea Muscle Daily

1. My head actually hurts with ideas. James wasn't kidding. 6 months into the practice, I thought nothing was going to happen. I persisted. On my 8th month, I can't sit still anymore. Ideas are sprouting like crazy!

2. I revived this blog. I abandoned this blog last year. I created another one but abandon it as well. I've abandoned a lot of blogs. One day, I had the idea to become a blogger, so I created a list of what 10 things I could do. One of the items that popped was to start posting again. 

3. I created another blog, an Episode Recap Blog. I was taking a bath when the idea of creating an episode recap blog for popular TV series in my country. I immediately turned to my list and wrote the first 10 steps to make it a reality. It's now live. I don't get paid for it. It's a labor of love. But it DID teach me what it takes to conceptualize and execute your ideas. Now THAT is valuable.

4. I've learned to embrace the bad ideas. I was a serial perfectionist. I still am. But it's not worst as it used to be. Writing 10 ideas a day gave me the opportunity to accept that I can create "bad ideas". I was allergic to them by the way. Eventually, I realized that we don't progress in life because we're stuck. We're stuck in that sea which rejects bad ideas. I've finally learned to befriend them. A million thanks to that.

5. When I'm stuck, I turn to my list. Corollary to Number 4, I've finally gained the confidence to trust in my ideas. Good or bad. I need to start somewhere, and the list is perfect for that. 

6. When I need solutions, I turn to my list. 10 ways to approach to this person. 10 things to say. 10 memes to create. I don't care if it sounds stupid, insane or bad. As long as I can generate and hit my quota, that's what counts.

7. When I don't know what to do, I turn to my list. 10 first steps. 10 things I've always been doing. 10 things I haven't done yet. I unintentionally killed my drawing habit when I started my Morning Pages routine. To rekindle it, I created a new routine: "10 illustrations ideas for ______". Writing is one thing. Drawing is another different thing. It's harder. Without the 10 ideas-a-day format, this wouldn't have been possible.

8. I cannot think properly unless I write my list. One of my morning rituals at work, aside from the Morning Pages, is to write "10 things I'm grateful for today". Before my evening ends, I create another list for that. Not only do I exercise my mental leg of the Daily Practice, but I also exercise the Spiritual one. 

9. I've started to create and execute what I write in my list. By this time, I've created the confidence to produce like crazy. In one writing gig, the other party asked for suggestions on articles to write. I gave him 10 ideas. He liked one and asked me to write it. The only problem was I didn't write it. I didn't like the topic he chose. Number 3 is the perfect example. It started with an idea and I wrote the steps to make it a reality.

10. I now evangelize people to this practice. In case you don't know, I discovered James Altucher in Quora. For every other question I answer, I introduce the Daily Practice, especially the 10 ideas concept. Because it actually works. I want them to experience the good things that happened to me as well.

Has the practice converted me to a millionaire? Has the practice allowed me to quit my job?

Not yet. But I'm hopeful.

Being an Idea Machine is just the beginning. 

Grab a sheet of paper and start your own 10 ideas a day! 

Candidate Moves

I always get killed when I play Final Fantasy Tactics. I hated Vagrant Hearts's gameplay.

But I loved Arc the Lad. It was probably the only tactical game I loved to play, and would spend hours on.

Why am I talking about tactical RPGs?

Because, Chess.

Tactical RPGs are like Chess. Every game is unique. It has opening moves. Certain Job classes have their own moves and skills.

 Did I mention that I suck at strategy games like chess?that's what.

James Altucher advocates Chess and Go. I like to learn Go. However, there aren't a lot of players where I live. Either there aren't, or I'm not searching hard. I'll assume there aren't any. But someone is bound to love chess in my area.

Chess. Altucher said, "Look for the candidate moves". he quoted that from another chess grandmaster (whose name I forgot).

What is a candidate move? It's a list of moves a piece can probably make.

I need to play chess, to enhance my thinking. to see the possible candidate moves in my life.

Last October 19, 2015, we had an activity that had a lot of... well, "small failures". Small failures that could have been prevented if, well, candidate moves had been predicted and counter moves were done.

Sadly, there weren't. And one of my biggest mistakes was I didn't learn how to think of the candidate moves.

It sucks. And it's part of learning.

Candidate moves.

10 ideas on what i don't know

What do I get when i mix Think like a Freak (to admit what you do not know, but I can learn, right?) and James Altucher's 10 ideas a day? Inspiration for Idea sex.

Here are my 10 ideas: ideas written on paper that I will dispose,  but ideas I will immortalize in my blog. I hope that one day, maybe one day, I will be able to... succeed! Act on one of them and do something about it.

1. I don't know how to cook yummy food.
2. I don't know how to finish a planned project.
3. I don't know how and where to meet people with common interest.
4. I don't know how to sustain a relationship (friendly, casual, romantic ones).
5. I don't know how to manage my time properly.
6. I don't know how to be a proper or great, or well functioning administrative assistant.
7. I don't know the entire procurement process (related to my work, but I'm hanging by).
8. I don't know the answers to a lot of questions.
9. I don't know how to plan projects, especially when it is asked of me. (no wonder I wasn't a good leader in elementary and highschool).
10. I don't how and what it means to give my all and succeed.
11. I don't know how to be a proper nurse.

*why is there number 11? Because when you exercise the idea muscle... everything starts to flow

10 Sketches a day will eventually make me a Sketch Machine Anyway!

I'm a big, BIG proponent of James Altucher's 10 ideas a day.
I have been practicing it for almost a month now. I make it a point to churn out a minimum of 10 ideas. I average 30-50 ideas a day.

What is the reason why i follow 10 ideas?

It's simple.

But first, let me give you a background.

James Altucher created a daily practice. It has 4 pillars. or legs. to be a healthy and functioning human being, you must practice all 4 legs daily. and what are the four legs?

1. Physical
2. Mental
3. Spiritual
4. emotional

The idea muscle, comes from the second leg, the mental body. write 10 ideas a day and make sure your mental muscle sweats. write 10 ideas daily. it usually takes at least 6 months for any noticeable change. once done on a daily basis, once the idea muscle gains strength, you become an idea machine.

And when you become an idea machine, you rock!

That is the premise of the Daily Practice.

Now just what is this.. 10 sketches?

I believe it is a product of practicing my mental body, or the 10 ideas. Yesterday, I was pondering the mystery of my lost Lady Arthemis, of my lost creative body, when i mused how much weak and it must have atrophied.

Why don't I create 10 sketches. I mean, 10 sketches a day will make me an idea machine.
And the point of 10 ideas a day isn;'t to generate good ideas. part and parcel of the 10 ideas is to churn out ideas, good or bad!it doesn't matter if it looks awful or what. whats important is that... you churn out ideas!

In this case, i have a... not so bad case of perfectionism. but perfectionism nonetheless.

and it's what blocked me all these years (3 years). when i try to create something, the critic in me dissuades me from even attempting. "pathetic piece of shit you are. the only thing you're good at is anime and facials. you keep drawing the same thing"

So i never attempted to create something difficult. something fresh.

Strangely, this has never happened when i churn out ideas.  I do not hear the critic. the voice. the monster. i do not. all i hear is "Well, it doesn't matter! good or bad, the goal is to be an idea machine! i'll be a monster! i'll be awesome!"

Isn't that an interesting notion to be? To sketch, for the sake of sketching. to sketch and smile, because I can sketch, that I am thinking of new ideas. It doesn't have to be good, excellent or very good (I can refine the good ones anyway)

Yesterday, I gave permission and drew a bunch of... flowers, mermaids and whatnot. it's very interesting. Today, i have produced 10 ideas to sketch. and 10 ideas to sketch about flowers and gardens. I am excited to show them to the world. Whether good or not. I am an idea machine. I am a sketch machine,

I rock!