Ten years ago, I would’ve told anyone who’d listen that I had no imagination of my own. I used to say that I struggled to come up with anything “new.” That’s no longer the case. These days I have to keep paper and pens all over the house, including outside the shower, because I never know when inspiration will strike. When I wake up in the morning, a sticky note pad and pen are sitting right there on the nightstand next to my pillow. They’re there when I go to bed, too, just in case I think of something before falling asleep.
It’s amazing how this has changed. The only reason I can think of is that my imagination is now in constant use. Ten years ago, I was working in deeply technical and factual worlds, and my imagination was atrophied. Since then, it’s grown like the Grinch’s heart: “Well, in Whoville they say—that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.” Only… three sizes isn’t large enough to describe it.
I don’t always know which ideas are keepers, but I keep a running list of them in case one might spark a future project. Sometimes I dive in and get halfway through a project before realizing the idea wasn’t as good as it sounded. But that’s okay. If I’m not enthusiastic about a project two weeks in, no amount of extra effort will make me love it at four weeks. By then, I’m not creating something I’m proud of; I’m just getting it done. That’s why I’ve learned to be very selective with commissions. If I’m not excited about the concept, I can’t put my best energy into it, and that’s not fair to anyone.
On the other hand, when an idea lights me up—like this latest one for Magical Appalachia—I go all in. I’ll happily fine-tune every detail, even the ones no one will ever notice. I’ll analyze, adjust, and polish until it feels just right. The result is usually something I’m proud of and eager to share, something I’d be happy to gift to someone.
Right now, I’m especially enjoying the zine-making process, creating stickers, and designing my roleplaying journaling game. I can switch between writing and illustrating as much or as little as I want, which is perfect for my neurodiverse brain. This feels like the creative state I’ve been trying to reach for years.
Was it worth all the struggle—the courses, the experiments with art supplies, the stories that sit unseen in folders? Absolutely. Following my ideas is like following fireflies. Maybe that’s where the idea for my Catch a Story project came from. I follow my sparks and capture them for a while to see if they stay bright, and I let them go if they don’t.
It took me a long time to get here, to this place where I can finally follow my sparks without feeling frustrated or stuck. Now, it feels less like searching for ideas and more like keeping up with them.
How about you? What do you do with your ideas? Do you find your imagination growing or shrinking? Have you thought about why?
