Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content (AGENCY/DISTRIBUTED)

“Mark Levy teaches readers a wonderful mental technology, freewriting, that helps you dive deep into your unconscious to discover treasures.”—B. J. Bueno, coauthor of The Power of Cult Branding

When it comes to creating ideas, we hold ourselves back. That’s because inside each of us is an internal editor whose job is to forever polish our thoughts so we sound smart and in control and so we fit into society.

But what happens when we encounter problems where such conventional thinking fails us? How do we get unstuck?

For Mark Levy, the answer is freewriting, a technique he’s used for years to solve all types of business problems and generate ideas for books, articles, and blog posts.

Freewriting is deceptively simple: start writing as fast as you can, for as long as you can, about a subject you care deeply about, while ignoring the standard rules of grammar and spelling. Your internal editor won’t be able to keep up with your output—you’ll generate breakthrough ideas and solutions that you couldn’t have created any other way.

Levy shares his six secrets to freewriting as well as fifteen problem-solving and creativity-stimulating principles you can use if you need more firepower—seven of which are new to this edition. Also new to this edition: an extensive section on how to refine your raw freewriting into something you can share with the world.

“Whether you have writer’s block, face a tight deadline, or just don’t know how to get across all those wonderful ideas rambling around in the back of your head, Mark Levy has the solution for you.” —B. Joseph Pine II, coauthor of The Experience Economy

Mark Levy is the founder of the marketing strategy firm Levy Innovation. He has written for the New York Times, has authored or cocreated five books, and has taught writing at Rutgers University.