12 months ago I wandered around Amsterdam, freshly returned from a world trip, with an idea in my head and no clue what to do with it. That idea was called Amsterdam… The Essence, and all I knew was that I wanted to write a book about the city I live in and love.

I’d written some pieces while travelling, under a working title of ’49 things you need to know about Amsterdam’. I was pretty proud of getting them down on the page, around a dozen small pieces on the Dutch language, bicycle culture, repressive tolerance, etc. They were sketched out in Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand – so it was little wonder that when I re-read them when back in Amsterdam, they seemed to lack something.

Nevertheless, I began to talk with people. I set up an office, went to entrepreneur meet-up groups, re-connected with friends and told them all about my idea. There were various reactions, ranging from blind support to rank scepticism. Both helped me sharpen my ideas.

Instinctively it felt right to put my imagination into words; tell people firmly what I was doing, with a little confidence. “I’m writing a book called Amsterdam… The Essence”. Just saying that out loud gave me and others a feeling of movement and activity. By verbalising what was in my head and talking it through with both allies and cycnics, my thoughts gradually clarified and focused.

Sure enough, an answer to the question of ‘how?’ came out of nowhere on Queens Day 2010, when I saw Lake Montgomery playing acoustic guitar out of a Prinsengracht window. The story of a Texan musician coming to Amsterdam intrigued me and I set up a meeting with her to talk about her experiences living and playing here.

Afterwards I thought to myself, She’s a part of the essence of Amsterdam and so are many other people. Their story creates the city’s story. Shouldn’t I write my book in their words?

Fast-forward 12 months, and Amsterdam… The Essence is complete – more on that later. But the thing I want to share here is this.

If you have an idea - no matter whether it’s small, outrageously huge, or somewhere inbetween – get it out in the open. Talk about it and let it breathe. At the very beginning, be a little careful whom exactly you tell, because you might be fragile and nervous. However, the way to gain confidence is to test your idea and pin it on something. “You can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving.” So be brave and inject some motion into your next new thing.

My experience is that people are generally supportive of someone who is trying to bring an idea into the world, and will happily offer positive help and advice.

Let them. You never know where it might lead.