[stylist] What's on your mind?

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Lynda,

I'm a little like Chris in that I tend to not write every idea down.
First, as long as I don't release the idea from my head, it tends to
stay there, and second, when I feel the need to write an idea down, it's
one of my more involved ideas. Sometimes I just have a name or word
stuck in my head, a lot of the time I have a single scene in my head.
These can leave lasting impressions on me despite the lack of info.
These ideas I rarely jot down though unless I have a strong enough
feeling, but as I said, until I actually write it down, it usually stays
in my head. Most my ideas come from dreams. I have very involved dreams,
often weird and crazy, but involved. I tend to recall every moment of my
dreams, so this helps. I have used the digital recorder on my Victor
Stream to jot ideas down, and I use my laptop too. I also always carry a
double-sided slate to jot things down on.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 13
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:08:27 -0500
From: "Lynda Lambert" <llambert at zoominternet.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] What's on your mind?
Message-ID: <4AFF25CE1FF24474BC23B03736B136FF at Lambert>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

For everyone,

For those of you on FaceBook, you know that the message bar greets you
every day.  Mine looks like this:

" Lynda McKinney Lambert, 
"What's on your Mind? "  

Today, there are a couple of questions on my mind.  Instead of posting
them on my FB page, I will ask them here on the writer's list.

On my mind,  are TWO questions today. 
This is  what I am  thinking about lately.
 I wonder how you manage to do two things.

One: 
my "flashes" of inspiration come all the time when I am doing other
things and cannot get them down on paper or on the computer.  Often, if
the flash of inspiration is not captured, it is gone.  How do you
capture the thoughts you have at those moments when you are maybe on a
treadmill or working out at the gym; walking the dogs in the park;
riding in a car or traveling; speaking with a friend; etc. 
My memory fails me if I don't grab and idea when I have it. How does
this work for you?

Two: 
Where do you store these "flashes" or "titles" for yet unwritten work so
you can go back and use them later to begin the writing?

For the second question, here is how I am currently doing it. I am
curious if I could be doing it more efficiently - any ideas?

Once a thought captures  my attention for awhile, I put it in a computer
file. I list it under the title or in a sentence form.  I have a list of
such unwritten titles for pieces, saved individually as word documents.


For example:  Aubergine; 
May Morning; Moon Girl with Stars; Mitered Shells; the Morning Mail,
etc.

In time  I have additional thoughts on a particular title. I will go
back into that file many times and put  my research notes, and
accumulated  ideas.  It is like putting money in a savings account; it
all adds up eventually. In my way of working, it nearly always begins
with just one word that stays with me and haunts my thoughts over a long
period of time. But, I think if I had not written down that word,
initially, it would have left and gone to the next person who is paying
attention to it. Words are like that. Fickle!


 
 Lynda Lambert,MFA