New “Writer Problems” Series, Topic #8: Forgetting Your Best Ideas

by | Sep 13, 2021 | Articles | 0 comments

We’ve all been there: lying in bed, on the edge of sleep, when a brilliant idea floats in from the ether. Maybe it’s a fully-formed snippet of dialogue, or maybe something technical, like a major plot point. And before you drift off to sleep, you have to get up to write it down, orit’s gone.

Maybe the idea won’t wait until you’re trying to go to sleep. You could be out with your spouse or partner, a group of friends, or even in a business meeting. This wonderful idea pops into your head, but it would be awkward or inconvenient to write it down. What do you do?

 

Take the Hint, Accept the Gift

One of my favorite writers is Hunter S. Thompson, who had a great, all-compassing expression: “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” When it comes to inspiration, my advice has a similar structure: Take the hint, accept the gift.

I’ve been on both sides of the equation. Typically it’s when I’m close to falling asleep. (See my post on insomnia for more on that writer problem.) While I may not get much inspiration during the dayI’m naturally best at editing in the morning, creating copy in the afternoonsome of my most awe-inspiring ideas have come right on that edge of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep.

And yes, I’ve done both: selling myself the lie that I’ll remember in the morning, which I never do, or getting up and groggily writing it all down. I’ve regretted doing the former every time, but never regretted doing the latter. That’s how I’ve learned to accept these gifts when they come.

 

What If I’m With People?

It’s a fair question. Whereas rolling out of bed to write is one thing, walking away from people abruptly is quite another. Or do you just whip out your smartphone and start tapping away?

Personally, I’m a big proponent of the bathroom break for awkward situations. While a restroom might not be the most romantic place to jot down a few ideas, it’s infinitely preferable to ignoring a loved one or business associate. And no one can accuse you of being rude for answering nature’s call. They don’t have to know what you’re really doing in there, do they?

As funny as all this may sound, it’s serious stuff for us writers. Sure, we don’t want our sleep disturbed, or our relationships damaged, but the muse is not convenient by nature. I say it’s best to respond whenever possible.

What about you? Do you sometimes postpone a good night’s sleep, or interrupt a romantic dinner, with a quick visit to your WIP? Let me know in the comments.

weird

And Now, Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Now that I’ve reached the latter half of my sixth decade, I increasingly hear myself begin sentences “Back in the day…” or “I remember when….” It’s weird. In our eternally youth-obsessed culture, growing old itself is just plain weird.  And the current pandemic has...
mask

COVID-19, Discipline, and an Uncomfortable Freedom

Last week, my wife and I did something we hadn’t done since March of 2020: we walked into a supermarket without wearing masks. This might not seem radical, but a word of explanation is in order here. My mother, who turns 86 this coming May, lives up the road from us...
cover design

The Importance of Cover Design and Interior Design for Novels

I think I could be forgiven for not being an expert on either cover or interior design. After all, I studied neither in college. So I hope I'll be forgiven by anyone thinking I have expertise in these subjects. Still, in a world where employers regularly place ads...
French

Those Tricky French Authors and Their Obsessions

Today’s blog post was originally going to be Write Whatever the @#$% You Want, Pt. III. However, after seeing parts I and II lined up, I decided to call an audible and make it something less repetitive. Somehow the SEO gods have gotten into my head. As I’ve mentioned...
arrows

Slings and Arrows, Arrows and Slings

Almost two years ago, right at the beginning of the pandemic, I wrote a blog post called Sometimes All You Can Do Is Rock With The Storm. The idea was that, hey, everyone is having a rough time right now, and we’ll likely see more rough times ahead. Knowing that life...
break

Taking A Break

Today I'm taking a break from the regular weekly blog post—not because everyone is exhausted (which is true enough) but because we had a four-hour blackout in my neighborhood this afternoon! So now I'm too busy to create anything new, and time has run out....
game of thrones

3 Reasons the End of Game of Thrones is an Example of Good Storytelling

Social media is interesting: every time an artist or entertainer creates a new work, it’s going to get mixed reviews. Even in the case of a highly popular TV series like Game of Thrones, the armchair critics come out with their claws sharpened—especially when...
coming-of-age

Dreams, Memories, And Growing Up One Day At A Time

We use up too much artistry in our dreams—and therefore often are impoverished during the day. - Friedrich Nietzsche, The Wanderer and His Shadow   Boy, ole Nietzsche really had it right, didn’t he? Last night I went through mental movies that ranged from being...
process

Create A Process That Works For YOU

This week’s topic: create a process that works for you. I can’t tell you how many times a fellow author’s quote has upset me for the simple reason that their opinion is presented as fact. Here are a few examples: “Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by...
Ian

We Dodged The Bullet Known As Hurricane Ian

I've lived in Florida for almost 30 years. Sometimes when I write a statement like that, I imagine a reader at the other end: “Are you nuts?” or “Are you some kind of right-wing wacko?” Nope. And again, nope. Florida in the 1990s was a different animal, though. More...
self-promotion

What’s The Problem With Shameless Self-Promotion?

While I still find it somewhat hard to believe, I've been on Twitter for almost eight years. I know this not only because Twitter shows Joined March 2015 on my profile but also because, even if they eliminate that feature, I use a tracker called Who Unfollowed Me? If...
MLK

MLK Day 2023

Here’s wishing everyone a safe, sane Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For many of us, today is always something of a day of mourning: not only mourning the loss of a great civil rights leader, but also mourning the turn our great nation seemed to take in recent years....

Twitter Tips for Authors in 2023

If you follow my blog, you probably connected with me via Twitter, whether you’re a fellow author or not. In 2020, I wrote a post about Twitter for fellow writers that got a good response. Three years later, the landscape has changed, but some Twitter best practices...
rails

Going Off The Rails (But Not On A Crazy Train)

Last April, I wrote a blog post called Back on Track With a Work-In-Progress. Part of that post was to talk about the difference between a “plotter” and a “pantser” (and to describe myself as a hybrid of the two, a “plantser”). Another, less obvious motive, was to...
French

Those Tricky French Authors and Their Obsessions

Today’s blog post was originally going to be Write Whatever the @#$% You Want, Pt. III. However, after seeing parts I and II lined up, I decided to call an audible and make it something less repetitive. Somehow the SEO gods have gotten into my head. As I’ve mentioned...
scared

Write Whatever the @#$% You Want, Pt. II

In last week’s post, I mentioned a pretty well-known author who has publicly reported his publisher “wouldn’t touch” a new release, in part because a character in his novel referred to herself as “fat.” I heard this story on a podcast, and I remember thinking, “Wait...
censorship

Write Whatever the @#$% You Want

I’ve been stewing on this for a while. It’s been brewing for quite a while. I could probably write a song about it (how about a rap?), but I don’t think I will. This is more of a blog post topic, and it might even deserve a series. And that’s the title and topic of...
gratitude

Should Every Month Be Gratitude Month?

When I was a kid, I loved Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. I read it daily and collected nearly every paperback volume of the cartoon, so I could see what I’d missed since the comic strip’s inception in 1950.  Certain things stuck: quotes like “happiness is a warm puppy”...
robot

More Thoughts On Robot Writers and The Tech Dystopia

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post here called When Will the Robot Overlords Replace Us? Apparently, I’m fairly obsessed with this stuff, because every time I come here and empty my brain, it seems to come up again. Today is no different. Part of the reason,...