Have you ever thought of something you needed to add to your grocery shopping list, but you forgot to write it down? When you finally get to the grocery store, you can’t summon that one item in your mind no matter how hard you try. You know without a doubt you need to write it down when you think of it, or it will completely leave you until you are back home standing in front of the empty bottle or package of the particular item you couldn’t remember to buy.
Writing is like that.
If I have an idea, I need to get it on the page as quickly as possible before it disappears from my mind. If I think of witty dialogue, I need to put it in writing as quickly as possible so it doesn’t escape along with the things I need at the grocery store.
As writers, we have to strike while the iron is hot. We need to write the ideas down when they come, or we will never be able to remember them in the detail we first imagined them. This leads us to race for pen and paper, note apps on phones, or word processing programs on laptops. We have mildly distracted expressions as we try to hold on to the bit of banter we just imagined between our lead characters, or we have “deer-in-the-headlight” expressions as we try to retain the visuals of a fight scene between a powerful lead character and her nemesis.
It’s important for us to get these ideas down, and we may find ourselves rearranging schedules just so we can spend an hour getting an important story element more developed than a single thought. This is the life of the writer. All around me are bits of paper with scribbled writing ideas from titles to storylines to names and more. We know we need to write things down as soon as we think of them, and yet, I still find myself thinking, “It’s okay. I’ll remember it later.” Famous last words if I’ve ever uttered any!
We all have our quirks, but I’m guessing this one is true for most of us. The pen or keyboard is an extension of ourselves. We have to get those words down so we don’t forget them, and then for days, weeks, or months, we may pass over them repeatedly while we search for just the right place to use them. We may even surprise ourselves when we find the perfect fit for them. All we know is, when we feel the need to write, we better get to it.
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Inspirational Verse for the Day:
Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you don’t know what a day might bring. (Proverbs 27:1, CSB)
All Things Subject to Change 