by Chris McGinty
The Oxford Languages and Google dictionary defines hodgepodge as “a confused mixture.” This could probably describe most blog posts that I write, so I guess I’ll just put links to all my blog posts here. Nah.
There is a joke that I’ve brought up many times, “I’m not watching TV. I’m researching.” The idea is that you’re not really procrastinating, you’re in the research phase of creativity. Sometimes I feel it’s an excuse, but sometimes I feel like it’s valid.
When I get into this phase, I’ve found rather than doing something like reading a book, watching TV, or playing “GTA: The Sims” (oh, how I wish that existed) it’s better to look at memes. Don’t laugh. I’m not completely kidding. One of the things I’ll do when I’m compiling notes is I’ll pepper the file with random things that might spur thoughts later. I think the one that has given me the most inspiration, I found in a quotations book at the library: “Mine is yesterday, I know tomorrow.” – Book of the Dead
Sometimes the absurd works to make me think, so I get very random sometimes. I’ll use a random word generator to get two or more words and then I’ll do searches using those words. I find many things I would have never found this way. It doesn’t always lead to a new thought, but it works often enough that I don’t feel like it’s a complete waste of time. By the way, I’ve found that two words is more likely to produce a result that includes all elements. It’s interesting if you can make three or four words work with a search, but usually it doesn’t.
My thought is to use a set of searches, things like: memes, quotes, songs, web search, YouTube search, etc. These will produce results that I will comment on. It’s just a way of creating prompts for writing.
Links:
2024-02-16 – Hodgepodge Blog #1: Fight Jaw