I got this book for free using edelweiss but I promise all opinions are my very own! 
How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success
ISBN: 1668026007
by George Newman
Format: e-ARC
Published by Simon and Schuster on January 27, 2026
Genres: Nonfiction
Pages: 304
Source: edelweiss
Goodreads 
It seems as if creative books are a dime a dozen these days. I have read them allll in the hopes of getting my creative spark back. At first, I blamed the meds I was put on once I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. The meds back in the early 2000’s made you a zombie, so even though the books were great, the fact remains that if I were on those types of meds, nothing was genuinely going to help. Then, somehow, they developed the second generation of antipsychotics. That allowed you to stay awake without drinking a pot of Death Wish Coffee every few hours.
Then, a few years ago, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis and was basically housebound. I had to move back in with my parents. Let me tell you this country of ours is NOT made for people with mobility issues. I mean, why is the wheelchair ramp a half a mile away? Well, it wasn’t that bad, but it sure felt like it. I was not in a wheelchair, but my knees were so bad that I had to use that curb dip, and then I had to walk back to the actual entrance. It felt like knives stabbing my knees, then my feet, then my..Well, you get the picture.
I tell you all this because I realized that if you don’t feed your inner artist, your ideas will come to a complete stop.
After I got a hold of The Artist Way, I began implementing the strategies I could, and I DID see a big difference. I thought of it as the best and only book worth paying for to reset your brain.
What happened when you restarted your brain? Then how do you implement your strategies?
I read so many books that all proclaimed to fix my problem.
The day I finally realized that the problem NOW was implementation, and that I only had what I now call surface ideas.
I spent hours looking up books and websites on how to best get the abilty to gernate ideas on demand. Then out of the blue I checked Edleweiss and lo and behold the unicerse had guided me to a book that was everything I was asking for.
I was granted an ARC of How Great Ideas Happen.
Likr a lot of books on how to get ideas on autopolite it had excersise to do to help you go deep into a topic to see views that otherwise would allude you.
I did the exercises, well, some of them that were in the book. I have not tried out every exercise but what I did try helped me bust out of my creative rut regarding this blog, so even for that, I am grateful. Idid do one excersise that has already provided me with topics I can ge below the surface of a topic.
It called for taking post-its, a LOT of post-its, and just start putting down your own ideas. This is not the place to censor yourself, just keep on thinking, and when it feels like you have emptied your brain
If you have been following me for a while, you will know that after several things I went through, all I could do was go to bed and watch movies.
It felt like I would never be creative again.
When I did the past note exercise, though it felt like I hit a wall, I kept going and came up with a few excellent ideas.
Which felt like a million pounds coming off my shoulders, as there was a point when I truly began to fear I would never blog again.
I am going back to go through all the exercises.
I cant wait to see what I come up with.
