...partly because I had so many ideas for this post. Inspiration? Invention? Irresponsible? Idiot? (I started making a list of potential idiots to showcase, then remembered that's not really in the spirit of friendship and camaraderie that I'm so fond of.)
So. Ideas. On a college campus, they are more plentiful than candy wrappers (and that's saying something!). They grow, they change, they collide. Sometimes they are strong enough to inspire students to stand in the hot sun and hand out literature or shout their support for ideas. Sometimes they are just discussed with roommates with the aid of late-night Red Bull. (For the record: My roommate does not allow me to have Red Bull. He only allows me to have caffeinated tea before noon, and even that is under protest.) Sometimes they bloom in the most unlikely of places.
Ideas are part of the reason that my blog schedule is so convoluted and why I can't seem to keep focused on any one thing-- there is such a spectrum of ideas in my head, all bumping and colliding and creating sparks to start whole new ideas that I need an orderly place for them to queue up and come flying out in turn. I was reading a recap of a The West Wing episode on Television Without Pity yesterday (it was research for a class, honest!), and the recapper shared a bit in which Toby insists to Charlie that he is writing, to which Charlie replies, "I don't see any paper." The recapper then went off on a tangent about how she's always writing something, with or without the aid of writing implements, sometimes even while physically writing something else. I agree. And so does Toby: "Paper is for wimps." Hee hee hee.
What do you do with your ideas? Or when do you find that ideas turn up?
10 comments:
Ideas have been known to show up in the middle of the night, driving me out of my cozy nest and into the computer room all squinty eyed and crabby. I love paper...I couldn't live without paper...especially index cards from the dollar store. Can't live without my HP either.
Oh, fun! I'm a runner (kinda)/writer gal, too!
My ideas need to go through a vetting process. Here's an example. I finished a YA dystopian (Life as we knew it) last night. I woke up this morning with a new dystopian story idea. I knew it wasn't THAT good, but it was just to try my hand at the genre. By time lunch rolled around, I was losing the shiny happy feeling. Now it's mid afternoon and I realize the idea wasn't that good.
HOWEVER... there were nuggets I could keep, so I'm writing them down in the writing journal that stores all my half-baked ideas. :)
http://tlconwaywriteshere.blogspot.com/
I have the same problem with ideas, too - mostly, the challenge for me is to stay on course with the current WIP, rather than let myself get enticed by another idea. They seem to turn up anywhere and everywhere!
We were just talking about this - ideas come to us all the time, we just need the time/commitment to make them work! I tend to be inspired by movies and books, but to the opposite - a movie about a spaceship, I'll write a page about a submarine...I have dozens of first pages.
erica
I'm a wimp, if I don't write 'em down they're gone - quickly. I used to carry a small notebook around but that was too much of a hassle and apparently whatever is in my pockets ends up looking like it encountered a gang.
I get ideas all the time and jot them down in a notebook or a computer file or a handy napkin or the back of an ATM receipt - can you tell that organization is not my strong suit? I like the shininess of new ideas and have a harder time buckling down to make them really work.
Ideas usually come out of left field. I carry index cards, a la Anne Lamott, and jot down whatever idea hits. If I don't write it down, the one sure thing is that I will forget it!
One Idea Can Change Your Life.
That is the power of Idea.
Fabulous post.
I am following your blog.
Stop at my blog and if like please follow my blog.
I like networking to share Ideas.
with warm regards.
http://mydaughtersdreams.blogspot.com
In a time crunch, my dear commenters, so I can't address you all individually as I would like... but I do think you are all completely brilliant! All great thoughts!
Hi~!! Yep, it's me, maybe LATE, but it's me...
Ideas....Well, I am like you in lots of ways..
I have TOO MANY ideas..they do rattle around and cause all sorts of melee and nothing comes out sometimes...The A-Z blog has been fun, but also a strange awareness that we don't normally have, I believe..I have enjoyed it, but some days it is tough when our schedules are wacky..
Thanks for me commenting late, but volunteering got in the way yesterday, and the phone today..
But, fun to visit with you~!
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