When you are away from writing/working on the chapter of your standalone novel or even your novel series (whichever book number you are on), meaning taking a break that last for hours or a day or a few more, knowing you will go back to it soon enough, yet you gain ideas that are on the list below. Ideas come to you like a thunder strike and you have to write it down on paper since you aren’t writing at the moment. The thing is that which of these things do you think about the most, always and creatively.
Sorry, if this doesn’t make sense and I apologize.
Here’s the list:
The ending to the story overall, If you are working on a novel series.
Creative plot twists exploring the plot deeper and deeper.
Characters to introduce and ways to explore their interactions.
Characters worthy of killing off for the sake of the story or sake of your sanity.
Explanations of foreshadowing.
Now, I apologize if I didn’t explain things properly. My mind is distracted and I feel a bit drained.
My Turn:
Constantly, I ponder things in my story when I am not writing it. Which is annoying because I don’t right it down and I blame my mental health for me having to be in the spur of the moment. Yet, I am always thinking about every one of the things listed. Though I am thinking about numbers 1, 2, and 5 the most with sometimes number 3. I am a person who thinks ahead anyway, never about the now, just the when instead.
I hope that explains things a bit better…hopefully.
Inspiration comes from everyday life for the most part… Odd spellings become names of locations or people. Distant views become larger images and contort into detailed locations, even small clusters of moss covered stone works become larger than life landmarks which adhere to an image of a township or city…
All these daily things that pass me by could and often do become places and peoples that I can use in time… And a notebook and pen are always at hand…
P.S. Sorry for being away fr so long, I have been quite busy with life draining stuff of the none productive creative ways of the world… Hope you are well and writing plenty!
I always forget to write down my ideas too. I try to just remember them but that doesn’t always work out well for me. Anyways, I tend to have ideas for characters and their interactions most often, because that comes naturally to me. If I want other ideas, I have to be actively trying to think about them. I need to do that more often…
For real, like am I going to stop showering or wake up from finally getting a good moment of sleeping after constantly tossing and turning to jot down notes? Hell no, though it would be nice if possible.
Yup, I get ideas all the time and write them down as soon as I can. That’s also why I only work on one story at a time. When you just focus on the one, then you’re always thinking about that one whenever you have down time, so the ideas for that story come thicker and faster and you finish sooner, in my opinion. (*＾-‘) 乃
For taking notes in the shower, I recommend Aqua Notes. They might sell these on Amazon too. ヽ(^。^)丿
I wish I could just record my thoughts at a moments notice without having to worry about needing paper or a recorder or anything. Just mentally project it.
My jeans are full of random little scribbled notes most days lol. I have a stack of notecards at my desk at work so i can randomly get ideas down between jobs.
Yeah, half the fun is finding what to write on lol. I have napkins, index cards, whole pages of scrap paper form the recycling bin, stacks of crumpled stickynotes lol in a pile on my table lol. They normally get put into a google doc when i get home so I don’t lose them lol.
My sudden ideas live on the notes app on my phone.
Tbh I’m thinking way more about prose than any of the ones you mentioned. Like ‘How would Margaret Atwood write this?’ or ‘Go back and read that one passage about Vienna from that one book!’ or ‘Read Joan Didion, please!’
I’ve a document for story ideas in general, but as for ideas on how to progress a specific WIP (as in plot twists, new characters/places, background, research, etc.), I keep those in a “Notes” section on the same doc where I’m writing the story
Not in the habit of writing them in the moment, so I just hope I can remember them long enough to write on the document XD
