As a professor at Anderson University I’m blessed with the opportunity to teach classes in storytelling and screenwriting. Every semester, as my students start to develop ideas, one of them will tell me they don’t have any good ideas.

When a student tells me this, I often ask if they have any bad ideas. The response to that question is usually a resounding “yes.” This is the answer I’m looking for and like any teacher, receiving the answer that is being solicited is a positive step.

My response to their affirmation of only bad ideas is this: Perfect! Write 100 bad ideas in your journal.

I’m of the belief that ideas are worth nothing. Only once they’ve been put into action, fleshed out, and developed into an actual work (novel, screenplay, painting, etc.) do ideas start to obtain value. I tell my students that I suspect if they write 100 bad ideas in their journals, that most likely one good idea will accidentally creep in. In fact, I always bet there are more than just one. However, they just need to find that one and then develop it. Once it’s developed, that’s when it truly becomes valuable.

Good ideas are worth as much as bad ideas. Zero.

So, I’ve developed a new assignment for my writing classes starting this fall. Every student has to write 100 bad ideas and turn them in by the end of the semester. Maybe I’ll give bonus points for the worst one.