Put two things that don’t belong together side by side. That’s how a lot of new ideas actually happen.

Originality is less often a brand new thing than an unexpected pairing. Collision is the mechanism: a sea shanty played on a synth, a horror story set at a bake sale, a basketball drill borrowed from dance. The friction between the two parts does the creative work, because your brain has to invent something to bridge them. Waiting for a wholly new idea is usually waiting forever.

Write ten things you like on scraps, draw two at random and force them together for an hour. Do not judge the pairing before you try it. The bad combinations still teach you something about both halves.