One creative genius I’ve always admired is Walt Disney. He was once fired by a newspaper because they felt he lacked imagination and had no good ideas. Hard to believe someone would say that about the man who created Mickey Mouse. Mr. Disney also went bankrupt several times, but he didn’t quit. Instead, he built Disneyland.
I read recently that Walt Disney, after dreaming up his ideas, would switch to the role of a realist and try to figure out how to implement them. After working that out, he would become the critic, and try to tear those ideas and solutions apart. He spent hours looking for weaknesses and holes. The ideas that stood up best were the ones he pursued. The man not only had the ideas, but he also developed a way to test them before putting them into production.
I don’t usually have too much trouble coming up with new ideas – for writing stories, for my job, for my home – but lots of them don’t measure up when I apply the Disney method. So I am going to try this:
1. Pray!
2. Write down my ideas.
3. For each one, write as many criticisms as I can think of.
4. Look at each idea and try to develop possible solutions for overcoming every weakness.
5. Choose the ideas that have the fewest insurmountable weaknesses.
6. Pray again! Ask God to show me how to follow through.
Try this.
And let me know how it goes.
Inside the Writer 
I never thought to self-criticize my crazy ideas. I get enough criticism without it.
It forces you to define your ideas a bit better. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve written that went nowhere because I failed to think them through with a critical eye.
and maybe i get the criticism because i don’t think things through :o)
Wendy,
Your post today reminded me of an excellent book I read a couple of years ago by John Maxwell called “Put Your Dream to the Test”… In the book he looks at the difference between a dreamer and someone who achieves a dream. He says the answer lies in answering ten powerful, yet straightforward, questions. Check it out!
I will, thanks!