When Inspiration hits, write that down!

It can be terrible having an awesome idea only to lose it later because you may think you’ll either remember the details then, or it just isn’t interesting enough to preserve. Even if you think you are unlikely to return to the idea, you should try and write it down, or find some way of preserving it! So many good stories in the world may be lost because someone forgot an idea, which is a shame.

I’ve lost my fair share of ideas as well, but have tried to start a google doc to keep track of them. I have it on my to-do list to return to these ideas at some point in the future. Who knows! One of those ideas may turn into the next big hit book for me.

Other ways to keep track of stuff is to record yourself talking about it. You may not have time to extensively write out some sort of outline, but that’s where keeping track via voice could help. Just make sure not to forget where you save your recordings, as I have a habit of not remembering where that is myself. Also, and this applies to writing it down, but you should probably elaborate on ideas you may have at the time so you’re not like ‘what the heck was I talking about?’ later.

No idea is too small to record, in my opinion. Every plant starts as a seed, after all, and that seed grows into something amazing. As cliché as it sounds, it’s true. To be fair, cliché often are. But you get the point. You could utilize a bulleted list (what I typically do) for ideas so they don’t get lost, and go into as much or as a little detail as you can. Again, just make sure not to be too vague and return to the idea confused later.

Dream journals count for this, by the way! Those are a good way to keep track of odd ideas you may have that have sparked due to dreams.

Happy dreaming, and happy writing! Get down as many ideas that you can.

---