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One of the first things that any novice or aspiring writer should learn is that inspiration can strike at any time. It can happen as we are driving our car, out socialising with friends, in bed in the middle of the night, or literally anywhere and at any time. There is no warning, suddenly an idea just pops in to our heads for an article, a poem, a short story or whatever and we know that it is a good one which we can turn in to a quality piece of work.

So what do we do on those occasions? File it prominently in our memory, "knowing" that we will remember it later? This is of course an option, especially if we are blessed with an excellent memory, but the number of times I lost what I believed were very good ideas in this fashion when I first started writing are too numerous and too painful to recall. How ever much we think we will recall these flashes of inspiration at a later and more appropriate time, the reality is that, as human beings, this will not always be the case.

What we have to do is get in to the habit of carrying a small notepad and pen around with us at all times. This can be of a size that fits snugly in to a small pocket and need not be obtrusive. Leave it also by the side of your bed when you go to sleep at night. In this fashion, as soon as the idea strikes, we can quickly jot down the basics of it and know that we have these notes to refer to later. This is such an important part of any writer's craft that I hope, if you are a writer and do not already follow this practise, you will adopt it with immediate effect.

We now have the basics of an idea and the bare bones of a piece of work. We have to add some flesh to these bones now and pad out our article or story to the required length with quality, original content. How do we do this? It naturally comes down to the individual but there are two principal ways in which I achieve this desired effect.

There are occasions when the idea is so detailed and profound that I can simply sit down and write the piece straight off the top of my head. I wish, however, that such cases were the norm, or even in the majority. When this is the case, I open a new Microsoft Word document and simply write the article in this fashion. I can thereafter take the time to comb through it and edit it by correcting any spelling mistakes, typing errors, or whatever. "Copy and paste" subsequently allows me to post the article on the relevant site or web page.

In the majority of cases, however, what I am forced to do is open two Microsoft Word documents. I use the first to detail, in note form, the bullet points which will form the basis of my article. I move them around within the document and slowly expand upon each of them until I am fairly confident that I have an adequate synopsis of what I wish my finished article to look like. I then use the second document to write the article, referring back at regular intervals to my notes page. It is then the second document which I "copy and paste" to the site.

These are a couple of tips which I have found extremely useful as a full time writer in ensuring I make the most of my inspiration and get that dreaded blank page filled as time efficiently and painlessly as possible.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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