Fiction writer Glenn Merchant of New York City never runs out of ideas, but, unfortunately, his best ones tend to run away from him – and fast.
“I can’t seem to hold onto a single bit of true inspiration,” said Glenn. “These babies know how to boogie.”
On the positive side, noted Glenn, the speed and agility with which all his best ideas manage to bolt gives him great confidence in their viability, should they ever return. “They’re obviously really strong and vibrant,” he said. “Maybe they just need to get a little wanderlust out of their system and they'll come back at some point. I’m staying open.”
For Glenn, staying open means regularly detaching from his cell phone and spending lots of time outdoors. In addition, realizing that keeping up with his ultra-fit ideas also means that he himself needs to keep in top physical condition, he exercises regularly and gets plenty of sleep.
He emphasized, too, that he doesn’t plan to simply sit by passively and hope that those fabulous ideas of his decide to return. “I’m prepared to chase them down if need be,” he said. “You just watch.”
Glenn was careful to clarify, however, that not all of his ideas run away. “The lousy ones always stick around - for which I'm very grateful," he said. "If not for them, I’d have had nothing to work with all these years.”