| He was bored. An opportunity presented itself—a blank page—and he took it. He wrote the first line of the Hobbit and the rest was history. Would he still have written the Hobbit if that student hadn't left a page blank? Maybe. Probably, at least in some form or another. Now, this couldn't have happened to just anyone. Tolkien the man was steeped in European mythology and folk tales and religion and history, so he'd done the work that laid the groundwork for creating his own mythology and history. All that was simmering in the background of his mind. But he needed some other things to fall into place, too. He also needed the boredom, the drudgery, the laboriousness. And then he needed that blank page, that opportunity, that glimmer in the dark. The spark of creativity, the rush of insight. He needed all those things to make the Hobbit happen. What does that tell you about your own designs on creativity or creation? You need boredom. Being bored is good because it forces your mind places it wouldn't otherwise go. It makes you wander, daydream, explore. You "get into trouble" in the best way possible. You need the spark, the "lucky break." You need your blank page to present itself. For Tolkien, it happened grading essays. For you, it's going to look different. This is the hardest input to manufacture because there are no rules or formulas. The only thing is what not to do, which is do nothing. You have to be doing something. It could be grading papers. it could be going for walks. It could be going for a drive. It could be going to your job or the gym or the beach. Or shopping, or the cafe, or... well, you get the point. Sitting in your room staring at the wall or your Facebook feed probably isn't the answer, probably won't produce the spark. But you also need the knowledge, the research, the skills, the hours. You need to have laid the groundwork in your mind and body so that your subconscious will seize upon that boredom and those sparks of opportunity to trigger the onset of the creative process. How are you doing on the three "requirements" as laid out by Tolkien in his little story of the Hobbit's creation? Are you doing everything you can to make it possibly, maybe, hopefully happen for you? | 
