Comments on: Dare to be Stupid

By: Jared Axelrod » The Promise of 2009

Jared Axelrod » The Promise of 2009 — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:00:07 +0000

[...] few days ago, Mur Lafferty spoke on the power of daring to be stupid. That stuck with me. I wanted to do that. I wanted to follow through on every stupid idea that [...]

By: Angi

Angi — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:03:54 +0000

If only this guy who did this comic had managed to hold himself in check: http://www.the-isb.com/?p=980

Haunted vagina beaver ghosts!!

By: Webcrumbs » Stupid Ideas

Webcrumbs » Stupid Ideas — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:11:00 +0000

[...] go here and read it. Done? Yes, I like Zefrank [...]

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:55:15 +0000

Damn, Mur, you hit it right on the head. Now my year of lazy sloth just got replaced by my year of industrious insanity. Thanks. Sheesh.

By: Dani in NC

Dani in NC — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:09:56 +0000

I hate to admit it, but I am addicted to brain crack. Fantasizing about applause is fun .

Seriously, though, I don’t have stupid ideas. I have boring, unoriginal ideas. A stupid idea would be a step up!

By: Dov

Dov — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:40:32 +0000

This has long been the cornerstone of my design philosophy and it has served me very well as a solo artist.

If I tell someone my idea, they will look confused and skeptical and might even try to talk me out of it. But when I come back with the finished product, they’re amazed by its quality and uniqueness.

Labelling ideas as “stupid” ideas runs contrary to the very concept of brainstorming. NEVER judge your ideas in a brainstorm. Just jot every crazy thing down. At the very least, if it sounds crazy and stupid, you don’t have to worry as much that someone else might have done it already.

By: Tom M

Tom M — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:12:10 +0000

Mur, you’ve definitely given us the headline of the day.

Good thoughts, though, in spite of sounding to the uninitiated like the pitch for the Bush Administration. (Two more days … two more days…)

But I think any writer would know the feeling behind your headline, and identify with it.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:15:00 +0000

Follow-through period has always been hard for me and since I’m always at least partially certain (can you be partially certain?) that my ideas aren’t real smart it’s not that that’s stopping me.

By: Leslea

Leslea — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:13:31 +0000

I am all about finishing my ideas right now!

By: Mara

Mara — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:08:39 +0000

Sounds good to me. My head is full of ideas – exploding full. And I think I’ve given in into trying out as many as I can. Not all is possible. Studying English Literature was one of those ‘y don’t I just study something with which I will not be able to make any money but which I will surely enjoy enormously’-ideas, same with agreeing to write a few poems for a friend’s anthology. Turned out I’m a horrible writer of poems. Really bad. But I’d never made that bird-shaped poem if I hadn’t tried . And one of the most stupid ideas according to many friends was trying to write 50.000 words in November. It drove me crazy but I got there in the end and now I have a half-finished novel sitting on my computer, some very impressed colleagues and the knowledge that I CAN actually write 50k in less than 30 days, with which I am still pretty impressed ^^.
Stupid ideas can turn out to be alot less stupid if you give them a chance. One idea which seemed very stupid turned out to have been one of my very best. I decided to kiss that lovely English guy who was visiting me over New Year two years back. Now we’re talking about becoming engaged. And I really hope that the stupid idea to one day get a novel written and published will prove one of the actually great ideas which only seemed stupid at the time.
But back to the stupid idea of wanting to write my MA-thesis on a very contemporary author now.
Good luck with your stupid ideas, Mur!

By: Bruce Brown

Bruce Brown — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:00:49 +0000

Totally agree. Totally. Our heads get in the way too much, finding obstacles. Let the stupid, crazy, wacko ideas fly – it matters not where they come from, just let ‘em fly. And try some.

There is sooo much research on scientific advances, businesses, marketing ideas, all kinds of stuff, that occurred to numerous people at roughly the same time in history. Those that acted were often the ones who got the credit, glory, headlines and all that good stuff (not always tho, in some cases it was the person or group who had the best marketing or P.R. or politics.)

So if an idea flies in, nuture it a bit, try it on, and who knows, maybe you, too, could be the next Newton, Starbucks, Ford, or Gates.