The fact that someone else has already written on a topic doesn't mean that you can't write on it as well.
How do people... get their ideas?
Intellectually engaging with other ideas of other people.
How many books do you read?
I read maybe a book a week; I'd read more, but as I wrote in a previous open thread, I have this idea that won't go away where I need to take notes on what I read or else I "won't be getting as much out of it as I could". The constant battle in my head of pros (having a record of my thoughts) and cons (my notes always ends up being a plot summary I could look up elsewhere) has effectively slowed my reading to a crawl.
I suppose I don't read as much nonfiction as I should, but even when I do, I don't get new ideas that I feel are sufficiently far f...
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)
3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.