Aug | 23 | 2007

Stray Ideas – Hold on to Them

Posted by Jimmy as Blog Tutorial, Tips, Writing

How many times have you found yourself doing something rather mundane when a great idea for your blog pops into your head? Maybe driving down that long stretch of road, words suddenly start coming together and you know that it would just be an awesome entry for your blog when you get home. Or maybe you are in the middle of an important meeting. It could be that you are doing your weekly grocery shopping. This is not at all unusual – after all, we do get our ideas and inspiration from things that we actually experience. As such, different situations may evoke certain ideas for writing.

However, I cannot count how many times I have experienced these great moments of “brilliance” only to find out when I sat in front of my computer, that I could not remember exactly what I had in mind. More often than not, I had the general gist but I just couldn’t recapture the edge that would make that written material great.

I am sure many of you are thinking along the lines of “It’s simple, take notes! Jot it down!” I know – I have done that too. Yet what if you just didn’t have the chance to do that? Is there anyway to grab those stray ideas and hold on to them till it’s time to write?

Here’s a simple thing that might work for you as it does for me: when a really good idea comes to mind, don’t just dismiss it and say I’ll write it later. Think about it as you would a fact that you need to memorize for an exam. Repeat the idea to yourself say 3 or 5 times. More than that, start adding tiny details that would help you remember the overall gist of what you want to write. Don’t stop thinking about it until you have the chance to jot it down.

Any other ideas on how to hold on to those thoughts?

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Comments (2)

2 Responses

  1. jaren

    24|Aug|2007

    I experience the same thing but usually it comes when I’m driving… but when ideas come when I’m just walking in the mall or doing something else… I jot it down like you said… I always bring a small notebook with me when I don’t lug around my laptop.

  2. Guru

    24|Aug|2007

    This always always happens to me leading to much ideas wasted. It usually happens to me when I am about to fall asleep, which means I feel to lazy to get up and jot down anything, or commuting, which means i feel too ill (i suffer from motion sickness) to read or write, or on the toilet/shower, which means i cannot get out to write! I have so many excuses.

    My solution would be to get a tape recorder. It would be easier to just push a button and blab. Less time consuming too!

  


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