by Brandon Daubs

Created on: February 15, 2007   Last Updated: September 18, 2009

We've all had the experience of defeating ourselves in our writing. You're walking along, either through the park or to your next class (if you're a student somewhere) when suddenly you have a great idea for that novel you've always wanted to write. You think to yourself, "What an awesome idea! I'll be sure to write it down as soon as I get home." You finish your jog, or your classes, and the first thing you do when you get home is unload the dishwasher or some other menial household chore. What happened to your great idea? Like a chunk of potato in boiling soup, it's sunk back to the bottom of your mind...you've got to scoop it out while you can see it. Write it down.

Any serious writer knows the importance of carrying a notebook with you at all times, because one never knows when inspiration will strike. Whether it be the clouds passing overhead or a squirrel smashed in the street, something is bound to strike a chord in your creative self, and if you have nowhere to write it the sound will only fade with the wind. You might be thinking, "So I write it down, so what? Won't I lose enthusiasm now that I've got it down?" The simple answer to this is yes, if nothing is done afterwards.

Writing down the idea is only the first step to victory over a writers seemingly inherent lethargy. Jotting down your first impression of the dead squirrel or the cloud that looked like a puking mouse or the cactus shaped like a gnarled hand is only setting a bookmark for you to return to later. Once you get home and put away the dishes, prepare yourself some lunch, scrub out the toilet bowl and do whatever else you can conceive of, instead of plopping yourself down in front of the TV or checking your email a million times, your energy would be better invested in developing the idea you recorded earlier in the day.

Developing your idea can progress in a number of ways. When you saw the withered fingers of the ancient cactus reaching for the sky, what did you think of? Elaborate on the emotional evocation of this imagery, and perhaps, in later stages of your development, tie it to a character who's own personality reflects the desolation of the ancient, isolated cactus framed by fading twilight in the desert. Once you have a character, the story progresses from there...put this character through whatever trials you think will best develop who they are. As soon as you've got a character your audience will care about, you've got a story. That's how you turn a detail noticed during your ordinary day into inspiration for a novel people want to read.

Establishing this rigorous routine is easier than it seems, once you can break past the obnoxious, nonsensical voice perpetually muttering "do it later." Don't settle for later...when you've got an idea you care about, turn that inspiration into a story the moment you find it.

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