If you are a blogger, a writer…then you also must have notes to stimulate your ideas. Or you record ideas on your phone. Whatever you do, you are creating a SEED that you believe might grow into something: a blog post a short story, a novel, a poem, a paragraph on Facebook.
And when and IF you do go back to those NOTES, how do you react? Laughter, wonder, confusion…what was I thinking?
Writers, bloggers novelists, poets, article writers…we all need an idea, a prompt with which to start.
WHAT DID I FIND? NOTE CARDS…
1. Here’s one…Her mother is describing a friend who had a stroke. She’s going on and on, Caroline fixated on the possibility of some root or stem now growing, crossing over her mother’s face, pulling her mother somewhere…maybe into a hospital bed, the woman slowly losing freedom of movement as she describes the friend who really has.
IT IS WEIRD, right? BUT LOTS OF POSSIBILITIES.
2. It is a spring-like day in winter, light through the windows is so bright, the room feels like the furniture is going to blow away.
I CAN FEEL THIS ONE. MAYBE A CHARACTER CAN TOO.
3. Two mothers are talking about their growing children. One says she now wants a life with “No strings attached”, causing her friend to immediately picture the cutting of the umbilical cord.
NOT SURE MOTHERS THINK OF THE CORD THAT WAY, BUT MAYBE. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
4. At a dinner with neighbors, a teenager notices that the children in this family, near to her in age, seem very ill at ease, rarely speak and keep their eyes on their dinner plates. When the teenager goes home, she remarks to her mother that those kids seem beaten down by their parents.
THIS WAS A REAL EXPERIENCE, SO MABYE I SHOULD WRITE MORE.
5. She felt this way mostly about Sundays, because whether the sun shone raw on the hard winter ground, or soft rains fell on new grass shoots, the house always looked shabby, undone. Maybe the troubles she tried to wipe from her mind were still there.
SHOULD SHE LIVE WITH THESE FEELINGS OR TRY TO DISCOVER WHAT THEY MEAN AND THEN DEAL WITH THEM?
I would love to know if you: sometimes start a blog post, a poem, a short story or an article with one image or one sentence you overheard, an experience that haunts you.
OR, when it is time to write a blog post, do you often have nothing to say? Do you write ahead of time, take notes during the week, the months, to keep your ideas flowing?
I so appreciate all of you…thanks for reading. Feel free to assign me something to write about in your comment.
8 Responses
I’ll see a poignant ending to a story, tv show, or book and wonder how I can use that.(I love poignant or surprising endings). I have a plastic case of index cards I write ideas on. As for blog posts, I try and write ideas as they come to me. There’s nothing worse than getting to “blog writing day” and nothing is happening.
Wonderful, Laurie. That’s what writers do. And I get the note cards and need to work harder to do that.
MY DESK IS A MESS. Hugs, Beth
Sometimes I will just hear some commentary, or see something that makes me do a double take and of course, with their permission many of my coaching clients give me a lot to reflect on. I try and keep a notebook and write ideas down for reference later. Enjoyed your post, Elizabeth!
Kathy, thanks for reading your comment. The human mind, human compassion, it is so various and
amazing. Congrats on being a coach; I imagine you are a very good one, Beth
I’m sloppy at notetaking and notebooks. I have over a dozen notebooks with notes, and some stretch across decades (I do document the date each time). I don’t do it often, but when I do, reading through a tattered notebook is entertaining. Sometimes my writing notes are mixed with to do and grocery lists, but they don’t always clash. Sometimes the juxtaposition is downright poetic. 😉
Ah the life of a writer…and a shopper. We all have those notes. Sometimes it is hard to discover what we really
wanted to say. Love your response, thanks, Beth
I have about 40 drafts in my blog. I don’t write a lot of notes because enough of my posts write themselves based on several blog hops I participate in. There are music posts based on a prompt, watching the sky, photos with shadows. Sometimes I do put a note in a draft and save it. Usually, the draft is one or two sentences on something I’ve seen, or something a co-worker experienced. Other times it’s something I experienced. Some have sat in draft for years. My poor abandoned drafts. I should go through them more often.
Hi Alana, thanks for sharing. I get what you mean about abandoned drifts. Sometimes we are with an idea, and then
suddenly, it no longer seems to be working. It is always good to wait and see, as the topic might grow and have more
effect as you let the idea germinate. Thanks for reading, Beth