- Get curious and stay that way. Entertain a perpetual inclination towards wanting to know. Have questions. Have questions that matter to you, specifically.
- Fuck around and find out if there are answers to those questions, or if your initial questions are just going to lead you towards More Questions. Use your local college library database catalog. I also recommend doing little experiments like what happens if I do THIS and making note of the results
- Think too much. Way too much. A very obvious overabundance of thinking. It helps if you are cursed/blessed with a mind that doesn’t stop, ever.
- Notice connections. Identify patterns in the way things work together. Put like with like. Catch similarities and differences. How do seemingly unrelated things have something to do with each other?
- Find yourself laying there in bed unable to sleep with a bunch of Stuff You’re Thinking About playing on a broken record in your mind like an absurdly catchy song you aren’t even sure if you enjoy
- Write down your observations somewhere so you remember them
- Edit for voice, accuracy, and occationally even a semblance of charm.
- Give credit where credit is due for ideas that weren’t initially your own
- Share – if you want