Write Down Ideas When They Come

[WaskiSquirrel]

Yesterday I was working on curriculum stuff (contrary to popular opinion, teachers do sometimes work in the summer). In my mess of papers I found a sheet covered with notes obviously written when I was really sleepy: big letters, shaky, and messy. And then I remembered: the night before I had a really bad nightmare and for some reason wrote down the details. Until I saw that note, I'd forgotten about it entirely.

 

So, I spent most of the afternoon developing those notes (some of which I still can't figure out). I think I know why I felt called to write it down. That nightmare has formed the basis for what I think will be my next novel. I'm on the third draft of a novel right now, and this nightmare would actually make a great prequel to the current novel. After my research, I realized that I had material that explains how my universe got to be the way it was.

 

I write science fiction. So far, nothing I write is good enough to be published, but I'm not really writing for that, although it would be nice someday. So now this nightmare is fleshed out into some ideas for a near-future horror story. That will be a huge departure for me since most of what I've written has been a combination of mystery/action/drama.

 

I had a great time researching also, and look forward to having more time after I finish the edits on the current novel. I had three people from the nightmare, so I named them and found a great website full of names to help. I also got to spend a long time researching the moons of the various gas giants to find the best one to match this nightmare. Jupiter's moon, Io, seems like it should be in a nightmare, but it wasn't in this one. I'm going with Neptune's moon, Triton, but I was also very tempted by Jupiter's moon Callisto, which is also the least used of all the Jovian moons in fiction.

 

Anyway, I need to get back to edits on the current novel (and make up lost curriculum time from yesterday). But, this really gave me a good message. Had I not written this nightmare down, I wouldn't have this germ of a novel.

 

Write those ideas down so you don't forget them. You don't even have to use a fountain pen!

[Chouffleur]

[snip...]

 

Write those ideas down so you don't forget them. You don't even have to use a fountain pen!

Now that I'm beginning to use fountain pens again, I'm looking for more ways to use them. It seems that when you have a nice pen filled with attractive ink they deserve better than to while their lives away being used to write grocery lists. At least in writing novels you are helping them fulfill their proper destiny. ;-)

[WaskiSquirrel]

Now that I'm beginning to use fountain pens again, I'm looking for more ways to use them. It seems that when you have a nice pen filled with attractive ink they deserve better than to while their lives away being used to write grocery lists. At least in writing novels you are helping them fulfill their proper destiny. ;-)

 

Even my "nice" fountain pens enjoy writing grocery lists. They're just happy to be used.

[eduardp]

 

Write those ideas down so you don't forget them. You don't even have to use a fountain pen!

I do this since adolescence. I have a box full of small notebooks (A5 and A6) in which I have gathered ideas, trying to connect some of them, although I think I will need many lives to give them flesh. I also have the dream experience with the following morning struggle to decipher my terrible writing.

For me in writing one of the most enjoyable part is when I take long walks to think and when I sit on a bench to wrote the ideas down (this days in my Midori Traveler using a Pilot 78G in F).

[knarflj]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Now I just need to figure out how to make sure I've got paper and pen handy at all times …

[WaskiSquirrel]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Now I just need to figure out how to make sure I've got paper and pen handy at all times …

 

If my experience that night is anything to go by...just stagger out in the middle of the night and mix it in with your work notes and trust you'll run across it.

 

More normally, I put this stuff in a Midori notebook.

[Paddler]

I keep a note pad and pencil at my bedside (I can't write with pen in the dark), and a notebook and fountain pen in my shirt pocket. When I'm hot on a story, they both get a lot of use.

[Bookman]

A note unwritten is an idea lost.

[fountainpenlady]

Wow! The reason why my response begins with that one word is that it is nearly 3:00am in the morning. Just woke up moments ago. Yesterday, the morning began with me waking up from a dream. It was not a nightmare. Yet, the fact I was able to awaken from it and it was still vivid, recalled it when alert was a rarity for me. I could not get it off my mind and I wrote it down in the Rhodia tablet on my bedside. As stated, it was not a nightmare. It was nearly ordinary with only some peculiar instances. There was no conclusion to it as out of frustration, I believe during the dream, I abruptly woke up to end it. Your account of what you have chosen to do with your dream, reminded me of mine. I have yet to look back or pursue writing anything on mine though. Doubt I intend to actively do anything with it. Don't want to at this time make anything of it. Yet, as someone who has not had a dream for which I remotely thought to do anything other than move on upon being awake from it, it was interesting to mentally ruminate briefly on what meaning it might possibly hold.

Keep writing. Can't remember the exact person or persons, but there are numerous authors whose works were turned down multiple of times and they ended up being NY Times Best Sellers for weeks, months. There are far too many authors whose works have been published after being rejected numerous times who are well known. Simply too early in the morning for me to easily recall their names offhand. Also, know you are fortunate to be working as a teacher during the Summer. I have seen teachers in my area working the Summer in the local mall interacting with customers while asking them about the scents they are interested in at a fragrance store. The leap from being a teacher to honing their customer service skills more a necessity and proof of the inadequate salary they receive. Proof of more, but too early in the morning for a step up on the soap box. Yes, used to be one. So, for whatever reason you write, cathartic for me. Keep it up! If nothing else, it will no doubt be source for others to find inspiration. I stopped to read here, remember, relate this early morning and share my own recent account.

Enjoy your week ahead.

Edited July 20, 2015 by fountainpenlady

[e-beth]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who wakes up from dreams/nightmares and thinks, "That would be a fabulous book!" I've got two of those ideas sitting around waiting to become novels, but I'm still in the middle of writing my first novel, which is rather slow going at the moment. Perhaps one of the dream ideas can become the basis of a NaNoWriMo project.

[inkstainedruth]

I can't think of how many times I've woken up from a dream and gotten distracted (by the news or something) and whatever I was dreaming about has instantly faded from memory. I also can think of several times where I've gotten an idea (generally for a poem) and didn't write it down on the spot and it's just gone.... Poof. Vanished.

I actually had an idea for a fantasy novel based on a weird dream I had in college (Weird how I can't forget something from 30 years ago but can't remember something in minutes of waking up sometimes). While that idea never amounted to anything, little snippets of it may end up in a completely different story at some point.

I now try to make sure I have a writing implement (aka fountain pen) within reach most of the time, and a couple of smallish (3-1/2" by 5-1/2" or so) notebooks in my purse at all times. And when I'm going someplace where I think I may have to wait around, I'll bring a composition book or a clipboard with blank copy paper on it that is relatively FP friendly.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Forsooth]

About 20 years ago, I had what was for me an iconic dream. I awakened in the middle of the night with tears in my eyes, which had never happened before, nor since. I turned on the bedside lamp, found paper and pencil (had no FPs at that time), and wrote down what happened in this very strange dream.

 

The next day, I found my nighttime scribbling (all but illegible) and the dream came rushing back to me in detail. That's why I still remember it so vividly today, though I've already forgotten what I dreamed last night.

[Lamyrada]

Yesterday I was working on curriculum stuff (contrary to popular opinion, teachers do sometimes work in the summer). In my mess of papers I found a sheet covered with notes obviously written when I was really sleepy: big letters, shaky, and messy. And then I remembered: the night before I had a really bad nightmare and for some reason wrote down the details. Until I saw that note, I'd forgotten about it entirely.

 

So, I spent most of the afternoon developing those notes (some of which I still can't figure out). I think I know why I felt called to write it down. That nightmare has formed the basis for what I think will be my next novel. I'm on the third draft of a novel right now, and this nightmare would actually make a great prequel to the current novel. After my research, I realized that I had material that explains how my universe got to be the way it was.

 

I write science fiction. So far, nothing I write is good enough to be published, but I'm not really writing for that, although it would be nice someday. So now this nightmare is fleshed out into some ideas for a near-future horror story. That will be a huge departure for me since most of what I've written has been a combination of mystery/action/drama.

 

I had a great time researching also, and look forward to having more time after I finish the edits on the current novel. I had three people from the nightmare, so I named them and found a great website full of names to help. I also got to spend a long time researching the moons of the various gas giants to find the best one to match this nightmare. Jupiter's moon, Io, seems like it should be in a nightmare, but it wasn't in this one. I'm going with Neptune's moon, Triton, but I was also very tempted by Jupiter's moon Callisto, which is also the least used of all the Jovian moons in fiction.

 

Anyway, I need to get back to edits on the current novel (and make up lost curriculum time from yesterday). But, this really gave me a good message. Had I not written this nightmare down, I wouldn't have this germ of a novel.

 

Write those ideas down so you don't forget them. You don't even have to use a fountain pen!

 

 

I have tried writing ... because I do like the "action of writing", it feels like part of me. But, a great BUT... I cannot pass the first idea. I lack the ability to develop an indea to fruition, I lack that creativity that is needed for a whole story from first to last chapter. I get stuck in the first two actions of a plot. Yes, of course, I realize I am not really a writer because I have nothing of interestet to say, that's the main thing. But putting that aside, I have no idea how to develop a theme, complicate it and resolve it. I have glimpses of scenes, that is as much as I can write, and of course these scenes belong to different stories., they don't belong together! LOL I sometimes write pieces of a story - and delete all of them, because they don't have a begining or an ending in my mind.

 

So, here is the question. Could you elaborae on how you get your ideas without comprimising anything, which may reflect a process to get an idea rolling? How do you get your ideas to roll easily? A lot of research? Do you have something as a goal, like surprising the reader at the end? Creating characters that don't exist or are they based on people you know? Creating worlds? Making people laugh and/or get tense and eager to know the end?

how long does it take you to write such novel?

I do read and have read a lot of science fiction short stories and I like the most those that surprise you at the end with one "out of this world" solution. You may think you are reading about a person and maybe you are reading about an animal, a microbe or something else, a rock, for example. OK, now I don't know if I am asking too much. Do you write on a word processor or by hand? I bet you use teh computer, its easier. Bye now...

[e-beth]

I haven't finished my first novel yet, so I'm not sure what I have to say is useful for actually finishing a novel. But, here's what I've been doing.

 

1. I have a daily word count that I need to achieve. This makes sure I just keep writing. Even if I'm certain that whatever I'm writing is complete garbage and will absolutely, definitely be edited out later, I put it down anyway. You can't improve something that hasn't even been put on paper yet (figuratively speaking, I write on a computer).

 

2. I joined a group called Shut Up and Write. There are several of them in the Bay area. They may be all over the place, I'm not sure. While the purpose is mostly to sit and write for 1 hour, no talking, before and after that hour, people talk about their books and what they are working on and if it's going well, or if they're stuck. Having kindred spirits with which to talk about writing is really helpful for staying motivated and keep working.

 

3. I think there are as many writing processes as there are people, but often people fall into one of two camps. They are either planners or "pantsers." Planners like to sit down and plan out their book in detail, what the timeline of the book is, what will happen in each chapter, etc. "Pantsers" like to "fly by the seat of their pants," in other words, they like to just sit down and write and let the story come out however it wants and then use editing to make sure there is some sort of cohesive plot and storyline. My guess is that in reality, most people fall somewhere in the middle and do a little of both.

 

4. I have heard that it is useful to plot out the action of a book you enjoy in order to see how a published author develops a plot. I have not done that, but I have followed another suggestion which is to plot the action of a tv episode. I did this with an episode of Elementary that I watched online (and could pause) and wrote down what was happening in the episode every five minutes or when it seemed like something significant had happened. I could see how each moment contributed to the main plot and when it was resolved and I could see how the subplots developed. It was a really great exercise and I plan to do the same with a book that I like.

 

5. The best, most comprehensive thing I have found online that explains an author's process is on Jim Butcher's (author of the Dresden Files books) Livejournal site here. Many authors have information and writing advice on their blogs, but I haven't seen anyone take you through plot development in the way that Jim Butcher's site does.

[Lamyrada]

Wonderful insight. I think #4 holds a lot of promise for those primarily left brain minded people. It seems we could learn a lot by it. I would take a less complex plot than those on Elementary to begin with. since my aim is a short story, not a novel; which seems impossible to me. I could not think out a complez plot that would be written as a novel. I used to verbally invent a short story for my nephews and nieces and send them to sleep in 5 minutes. That tells you how "good " I was. My father used to gather us around at night - when TV was not yet a thing in every house and tell us a tail he would continue every night. We did not know he was inventing it and I remember we were eager to listen to each night's episose. I think we are a family of dreamers. Thanks for the link, I will go there.

[DaveBj]

"If it doesn't get written down, it never happened." -- Dr. Catherine Ryan, in Debt of Honor, by Tom Clancy

[e-beth]

"If it doesn't get written down, it never happened." -- Dr. Catherine Ryan, in Debt of Honor, by Tom Clancy

 

My thesis advisor (and the head of the lab I was working in) used to say this all the time to remind us to write in our lab notebooks. It never occurred to me he might have gotten it from a book! I feel so disillusioned.

[DaveBj]

 

My thesis advisor (and the head of the lab I was working in) used to say this all the time to remind us to write in our lab notebooks. It never occurred to me he might have gotten it from a book! I feel so disillusioned.

 

I sort of believe that Clancy might have gotten it from somewhere else

[inkstainedruth]

I haven't finished my first novel yet, so I'm not sure what I have to say is useful for actually finishing a novel. But, here's what I've been doing.

 

1. I have a daily word count that I need to achieve. This makes sure I just keep writing. Even if I'm certain that whatever I'm writing is complete garbage and will absolutely, definitely be edited out later, I put it down anyway. You can't improve something that hasn't even been put on paper yet (figuratively speaking, I write on a computer).

 

2. I joined a group called Shut Up and Write. There are several of them in the Bay area. They may be all over the place, I'm not sure. While the purpose is mostly to sit and write for 1 hour, no talking, before and after that hour, people talk about their books and what they are working on and if it's going well, or if they're stuck. Having kindred spirits with which to talk about writing is really helpful for staying motivated and keep working.

 

3. I think there are as many writing processes as there are people, but often people fall into one of two camps. They are either planners or "pantsers." Planners like to sit down and plan out their book in detail, what the timeline of the book is, what will happen in each chapter, etc. "Pantsers" like to "fly by the seat of their pants," in other words, they like to just sit down and write and let the story come out however it wants and then use editing to make sure there is some sort of cohesive plot and storyline. My guess is that in reality, most people fall somewhere in the middle and do a little of both.

 

4. I have heard that it is useful to plot out the action of a book you enjoy in order to see how a published author develops a plot. I have not done that, but I have followed another suggestion which is to plot the action of a tv episode. I did this with an episode of Elementary that I watched online (and could pause) and wrote down what was happening in the episode every five minutes or when it seemed like something significant had happened. I could see how each moment contributed to the main plot and when it was resolved and I could see how the subplots developed. It was a really great exercise and I plan to do the same with a book that I like.

 

5. The best, most comprehensive thing I have found online that explains an author's process is on Jim Butcher's (author of the Dresden Files books) Livejournal site here. Many authors have information and writing advice on their blogs, but I haven't seen anyone take you through plot development in the way that Jim Butcher's site does.

My mother was a writer -- I would, by your criteria in #3 as definitely a "plotter". She wrote several bodice rippers and a number of Regency romances and she *loved* doing research: my parents' library was filled with books about costumes and coaches, reprints of period correspondence, books about various stately homes and churches, etc. I remember her trying to figure out whether she could use the term "galvanized" in one book (she couldn't -- Galvani, and the galvanic cell, was later than when the book time period was set...). She always thought that sort of research gave a sense of authenticity, even when it was just "background". But she was always amazed when people asked her "Where do you get your ideas?" because that, for her, was the *easy* part.

Also thanks for the link to the Jim Butcher blog. I'm a great fan of the Harry Dresden series, and I'm finding that I've picked up the snarky first-person tone in at least some of my writing.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[WaskiSquirrel]

 

 

I have tried writing ... because I do like the "action of writing", it feels like part of me. But, a great BUT... I cannot pass the first idea. I lack the ability to develop an indea to fruition, I lack that creativity that is needed for a whole story from first to last chapter. I get stuck in the first two actions of a plot. Yes, of course, I realize I am not really a writer because I have nothing of interestet to say, that's the main thing. But putting that aside, I have no idea how to develop a theme, complicate it and resolve it. I have glimpses of scenes, that is as much as I can write, and of course these scenes belong to different stories., they don't belong together! LOL I sometimes write pieces of a story - and delete all of them, because they don't have a begining or an ending in my mind.

 

So, here is the question. Could you elaborae on how you get your ideas without comprimising anything, which may reflect a process to get an idea rolling? How do you get your ideas to roll easily? A lot of research? Do you have something as a goal, like surprising the reader at the end? Creating characters that don't exist or are they based on people you know? Creating worlds? Making people laugh and/or get tense and eager to know the end?

how long does it take you to write such novel?

I do read and have read a lot of science fiction short stories and I like the most those that surprise you at the end with one "out of this world" solution. You may think you are reading about a person and maybe you are reading about an animal, a microbe or something else, a rock, for example. OK, now I don't know if I am asking too much. Do you write on a word processor or by hand? I bet you use teh computer, its easier. Bye now...

 

 

Sorry, my parents have been visiting, so I haven't been posting here much. But I'll do my best to answer you. Keep in mind that although I've completed novels, none are published, and I feel that only the latest one has any potential, so I'll talk mostly about the latest one.

 

1. Computer or pen: I'm a pen guy for idea writing, initial outline, brainstorming, and the rough draft. However, you are right. Typing is better after that rough draft. I keep other projects going in the brainstorming stage while I type so I can scratch the handwriting itch.
2. I'm not that interesting either. If you met me in real life, you would probably be looking for the door. In person I'm actually the quiet person in the corner...unless I'm teaching.
3. When I started writing, I would just write as the muse struck me. As you discovered, it's hard to keep an idea going. I experimented once with writing random scenes as they came to me with plans to edit them together later. None of this worked for me.
4. I brainstorm. I write down ideas. When I see a scene I write it down. If I'm thinking about a character, I write notes. If I'm thinking about a place or a technology, I write notes. I don't actually write out the scene, just something simple like: "Peter Cottontail tries to escape Farmer McGregor through the fence, but his coat gets caught."
5. There is an awful lot of brainstorming that didn't make it in the current novel or is even related to other novels. After I keel over dead, someone is going to be horrified by my notebooks. It might be a good idea...just with no place in this book.
6. Ideas need time to really develop. Once I get a story going, more things seem to attach to it. The one I'm rewriting at the moment had its germination when I was in junior high school and read about shipbreaking in a National Geographic. That's it. More ideas got attached from there and, at age 36, I started writing. At age 39, I'm still editing.
7. To get ideas, I find I need a lot of diversity: read lots of different things, watch different things, experience different things, etc. The brain naturally makes connections.
8. Give your brain time to make connections. For me, one of those times is working in the garden.
9. Some sort of surprise/tension/mystery is necessary to keep the reader going. But I don't write anything too crazy. One of my beta readers said my book read like it took place in 1950s southern California...with spaceships.
10. I absolutely never use real people as characters. However, it is certainly true that I steal bits and pieces from experiences, stories, and so on. I actually got the idea for the basic physical appearance of my character from my photography work and my teaching combined. I took a photo during a dissection, and the student in it was blond and blue eyed. I thought nothing of it until we got to the genetics/evolution part of the year when I always point out that these are mutations. So I cropped the photo to show just his eyes and hair and made a demotivator that said, "Mutants, they walk among us." Staring at it one day, I realized that I had the appearance of my hero. Except for being slender and male, they don't share many other traits personal or physical.
11. I don't know how to be funny in writing. My hero has two embarrassing incidents in short order with a woman he's trying to impress. But, because he's crippled and both incidents are as a result of that, it comes off more as sad and uncomfortable than as funny. Maybe with a different hero...
12. What really made my writing work this time was to create an outline before writing. I spent many weeks writing and rewriting that outline, and the story still had lots of weaknesses. But, with the outline, I had the whole plot, and I only had to bring it to life.
13. Truthfully, it would be great to be surprising and shocking at the end, but I don't think that way. Most things get resolved, but mostly by the slow, steady action of the hero throughout the novel chipping away at the problem, failing constantly, and then finally having everything come together at the end. As part of my hero's work: he causes a coup which makes things far worse, he gets arrested and tortured, friends of his are killed, and the woman I mentioned is brutally executed. But, because of these events and his other work, enough comes together for him to succeed, though not in a way he expects. I think the reader will see it coming, though. I'm more about the journey and wrapping it all up.

 

Hopefully, this gives you some idea. Thanks for asking!

 

By the way: every writer is going to give you advice, and it will all be different. Keep your mind and ears open for new ideas, but find what works for you. It will be some combination of the advice you're given.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Waski_the_Squirrel