How to Generate Ideas

When I was at film school I was lucky enough to be taught screenwriting by a bloke by the name of Chris McGill – a classic old school gent with a warm heart, and a deep love of storytelling and the artistic process. He also happens to have won the AFI in 1969 for best experimental film.

He was the sort of teacher whose presence made you feel like you were part of something important.

McGill encouraged us to reconnect with, and share, our personal experiences. He taught strategies to generate story ideas:

He exhorted us to “play the ‘what if’ game… daringly.”

A strategy that can be applied with equal success to any endeavour waiting to be catalysed by a great idea.