When you're trying to come up with an idea for a movie it's actually the hardest part - the germ of the idea. Inevitably you think of something that would be great and then discover that it was on an episode of The Simpsons.
You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
Imagination is the beginning of creation.
Normally book ideas come to me in a moment.
Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.
I hibernate. I hibernate until the next project takes shape in my mind.
For original ideas to come about, you have to let them percolate under the level of consciousness in a place where we have no way to make them obey our own desires or our own direction. Their random combinations are driven by forces we don't know about.
I am always stimulated by people. Almost never by ideas.
My feeling is that as far as creativity is concerned, isolation is required. Creation is embarrassing. For every new good idea you have, there are a hundred, ten thousand foolish ones.
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.
Once a new idea springs into existence, it cannot be unthought. There is a sense of immortality in a new idea.
During the first five years that I was writing the series, I made plans and wrote small pieces of all the books. I concentrate on one book at a time, though occasionally I will get an idea for a future book and scribble it down for future reference.
I write nearly every day. Some days I write for ten or eleven hours. Other days I might only write for three hours. It really depends on how fast the ideas are coming.
I think it's important to say typing in the computer is like the last, last phase of my writing process. That's kind of the fun part. Well, it's all somewhat fun, I suppose. But usually what happens is I think about a movie for at least a year - maybe a couple more - and I don't put anything down.
Great execution is at least 10 times more important and a 100 times harder than a good idea.
I try to seek out and surround myself with people who just percolate fresh, original, and creative ideas.
You know, as a writer, I'm more of a listener than a writer, cuz if I hear something I will write it down.
Once I come up with the concept, the rest of the song just comes.
Ideas are of themselves extraordinarily valuable, but an idea is just an idea. Almost anyone can think up an idea. The thing that counts is developing it into a practical product.
Writing is thinking in slow motion.
When I'm between projects, I keep a journal I call a 'thought log,' and it's my practice to write down whatever interests me.
Pouring out ideas is better for creativity than doling them out by the teaspoon.
There is no such thing as a new idea. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope.
Some incubators, like Y Combinator and TechStars, were started by successful entrepreneurs wishing to help the next generation learn from their experiences. Other programs, such as Viterbi Startup Garage and Austin Technology Incubator, were created by universities to help young entrepreneurs bridge the knowledge gap from student to funded company.
One interview would lead us to another interview, which led us to another interview. We had the questions and the idea of chonicling this moment in time. But we didn't have a movie, per se. As we started interviewing people, it started to kind of define itself.
