Tolkien \u2018splains how he turned boredom into a literal multi-billion dollar idea:<\/p>\n
The actual beginning though it\u2019s not really the beginning, but the actual flash point was, I remember very clearly I took, um, I can still see the corner in my house in 20 Northmoor Road…<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got an enormous pile of exam papers there and marking school examinations in the summertime is enormous, very laborious, and unfortunately also boring.<\/strong><\/p>\n
And I remember picking up a paper and actually I nearly gave an extra mark for it, extra five marks actually. One page of this particular page of this paper was left blank. Glorious. Nothing to read.<\/strong><\/p>\n
So I scribbled on it, I can\u2019t remember why:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u2018In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n
I think that was eventually published in 1937.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I now wanted to try my hand at writing a really stupendously long narrative and to see whether I had sufficient art, cunning, or material to make a really long narrative which would hold the average reader right through.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There is so much writing wisdom in that short bit to learn from.<\/p>\n
But probably the most practical lessons is when he used the term:<\/p>\n
\u201cflash point\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
Which he proceeded to immediately WRITE down.<\/p>\n
Arguably an entire multi-billion dollar industry unto himself sprung from that decision.<\/p>\n
But, imagine if he took the writing goo-roo route and instead thought:<\/p>\n
“I’ll remember this line about a hobbit living in a hole in the ground for later” – and didn’t immediately write it down, got back to grading papers, totally forgot it, and then went and got distracted by some new FOMO or bright shiny object instead.<\/p>\n
If Tolkien teaches us anything it\u2019s the fleeting nature of great ideas.<\/p>\n
It only takes ONE to radically change your business.<\/p>\n
And “It pays to be paranoid” is a good attitude to have.<\/p>\n
In a lot of ways, that’s how I approach ideas when it comes to daily emails.<\/p>\n
As far as that goes?<\/p>\n
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