Just recently I’ve had a couple of brainstorming sessions with my friend J who is also an aspiring writer. The most recent, being a 2 hour car journey (to a workshop) which was great fun.
My brain never stops. I’m constantly looking for ideas and inspiration, all around me. I think J was a bit overwhelmed by the journey as every road sign became an idea for a persons surname, along with any vans company logo’s that we passed *snigger*
J had an idea for a story centred around a fashion magazine. We ended up coming up with the name of the owner of the mag, the 2 villains, the protagonist and the name of the magazine. It was a great way to pass the time, and very productive 🙂 I think to be honest, she was a little bit scared at my enthusiasm and passion, but, those who know me in the real world will know that if I really enjoy something I get very enthusiastic *giggles*
The only problem I have is that when I’m on my own driving I can’t write anything down….hmmmm, so I’m thinking I really should try to figure out how my phones voice memo works. Not ideal whilst driving I know, but I’m not sure what else I can do 😦
so what do you do if you suddenly get an idea and there are no scraps of paper or a pen within a 50 metre radius?
I went to Elizabeth Haynes book signing session yesterday, which seemed to be going well when we got there 🙂
I spent the rest of the day reading proverbs…..don’t ask lol 🙂
Yesterday’s prompt about an ending inspired a short scene about a husband and wife, the husband’s head being buried in a book lol. Today’s prompt is “first time I saw her…” which is screaming 1st person POV at me, obviously 🙂
The View Outside 
I like to repeat things over and over until I’m someplace I can write them down. My philosophy is if I can’t remember it, it’s not worth remembering.
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That’s a great way of looking at it honey, thanks 🙂
Perhaps I should try that, rather than stressing over it lol
xx
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Well if you have an iPhone, which it looks like you do, you could get Dragon Dictation which I think is free, where you can dictate, and email the text to yourself, or copy / paste it.
Do you have a Dropbox folder? You can get this free from your computer, it gives you some free space to “cloud save” in. You can also send a friend a link to a folder and anything you put into it will automatically sync to you both, regardless of which of you put it in there. It is closed to anyone you do not invite. It is useful to save backups into incase your computer dies. – You can get several phone apps that sync with a dropbox folder, for example I use Notebooks on the iPhone, so when I save it and sync, it is there waiting when I reopen my computer.
Sorry to get a bit techie but you may find it useful. If you are not referring to the phone, you better get learning some memory mnemonics!
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Oooooo, thanks hon, I do like an App 🙂
Yeah, I do use my notes on the phone but I also carry a notebook so I never seem to use them that often. When I’m driving seems to be the main problem so I’ll definitely look into Dragon Dictation 🙂
Xx
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If you don’t have dropbox on your computer, I would get that as well. I use Scrivener (which is a really good writing software for larger projects), and there is a good way of saving a backup direct to dropbox when you close the app.
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thanks hon, will look into it, especially Scrivener 🙂
xx
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Scrivener is great – it has a very generous free trial so you can see if its right for you.
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I now have visions of holding a notepad and pen on every long journey we take!!! Xxx
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He he he don’t tempt me! 🙂
xx
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That brainstorming roadtrip sounds like soooo much fun! I bet y’all had a great time, along with coming up with names and details!
I’m also experimenting with recording notes on the phone while driving, ‘cuz that’s when I usually have great ideas pop into my head.
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Hi Tina,
Oh it was great fun!!! You should definitely try it 🙂
Good luck hon, and if you have any tips I’m all ears 😉
xx
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You just can’t drive anywhere by yourself. My wife and I took a 3 week vacation to several National Parks and Monuments to scope out locations for my novel. Carolynn journalled most of the trip. Whenever I had an idea, I would have her write it down. It worked really well.
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Wow, that is BRILLIANT!!!!!!
I will have to wait until I’m rich (or at least have a few books under my belt) before I’ll be able to do something like that….
xx
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I love your enthusiasm! 🙂
I will use anything I can get a pen to write on when an idea strikes, (except my hands – I’ve never been able to do that!). I once outlined a plot on my Starbuck’s coffee up! These days, I use a notepad app on my smartphone, which means I am never caught without a place to put ideas, (though some do look strange after a couple of days! Hahaha! ).
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Lol….I’m sure I irritate the hell out of family and friends lol, thanks hon 🙂
He he he…..yeah, I’m the same, but, I think writing on my coffee cup whilst driving would be even more dangerous than talking into my voice memo *snigger*
Xx
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There is something about driving in a car that seems to inspire my creativity. It happens all the time. Sometimes I grab a notebook (that I always have with me) place it on the seat next to me and scribble on it without looking at what I’m writing (yes, while I’m driving) and hope that I can read it later. Sometimes I pull over to write it down. Sometimes I repeat it over and over until I “get there” and then try to write it down, but I often lose things that way. The other day I had a great idea and had my 8 yr. old daughter write down a haiku poem that came to me as we were driving along. That worked well, but she isn’t always with me. I think the muses are laughing at us when this happens.
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Thanks for stopping by hon 🙂
Wow, that’s very impressive! Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Ha ha ha, yeah, you are probably right 😉
xx
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Having just come off a trip to Arizona – a six hour drive each way, I’d have loved to have you in the car. It would have been fun. Here’s the street sign that stood out most to me; Sore Finger Road. I swear I’m not making it up. Who names a street that?
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Lol….that would have been great fun! 🙂
Oh wow, seriously? Sore Finger Road, LOVE IT!!!! You have to use that hon 🙂
xx
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