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I was having a lovely day yesterday with my children. The baby was in a delightful mood and my eldest son was all earnestness and wanting to please; the sun was out and we were able to all play outside for a while. When that got old, we went back inside, the baby had a nap and my son started reading his new Dr Seuss book aloud.
Then it happened. Inspiration struck.
This wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill inspiration, either, where you get a few ideas for scenes or the perfect bit of dialogue. This was changes-the-whole-novel-for-the-better inspiration. This was significant.
I’m all for being inspired. God only knows that I’ve been neglecting my manuscript lately, what with school holidays and public holidays and any number of other things that have been occupying what had previously been writing time. But I have been thinking about it more over recent days, working through plot holes in my head, figuring out the best order for the events in my story (does the baby come before or after the engagement, for example) and getting back into the heads of my main characters. I even found myself dreaming about them, which is always a good sign. However, I wasn’t prepared for inspiration just then. It was a bad time. You know, inconvenient.
All was not lost, however. I grabbed my notebook and started scribbling madly, trying to make sure that I didn’t lose the ideas. As I mentioned above, it was one of those uncanny, feverish type of inspirations, when things just start falling together and you know that a significant hurdle has been overcome. I couldn’t write things down fast enough.
Of course, real life was going to be a factor. Yes, the baby was in bed, but from having Dr Seuss in one ear I can see a few idiosyncrasies in my notes this morning. I suppose this was always going to happen when I’m writing a scene of high tension yet all I can hear is that if you want to go bump, bump, then you should jump on the hump of the Wump of Gump.
As such, I have some deciphering to do this morning. For example, “Ned” appeared in my notes, yet I have no character by that name. He was in the Dr Seuss book, though, so I think I can safely scribble him out. The Yanz that opens cans can also, I think, be eliminated. Yet there are other things which I’m not really sure about, whether they were from my head or the book I was listening to, so I’m going to have to do some thinking about those. I have set aside much of today, though, to do this. No, it’s not my usual Writing Day, but hopefully my mind is still close enough to where it was yesterday to make sense of my scribblings and make some real progress.
So, what do you do when inspiration strikes at an inconvenient time? How do you make sure you don’t forget any brainwaves that come when you’re doing anything other than writing? I think I survived yesterday’s onslaught intact, but if anyone has any bright ideas about what to do next time (Dr Seuss notwithstanding), I’d love to hear them. :)
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I don’t have any children so I cannot say what I do not know about, but short of children I would say the only way is to be on 24/7. I don’t know if that is possible, but that might be the only way:( My worst these days is that I am getting lines when I am almost in dream land in that last bit of slumber when you feel everything is paralyzed. I had to get up yesterday from that state to write down my ideas and it turned to something else and it took me two hours and then of course I could not sleep and was pissed all day today. Then I slept in the afternoon and dreamt the next lines and actually got up with lines intact and then they disappeared and I still don’t have them. I would rather get up and write them down then lose them altogether. At least you write them down. I would suggest don;t fret about it at least in your case it appears that inspiration strikes from time to time…
Oh, I’m not fretting. I’m thrilled that this certain bit of inspiration came to me; it’s just the dissecting the bits I need from the Dr Seuss references that is driving me crazy. But not to worry, it all works out in the end.
I hope you get the lines from your dream back too!!
I tend to get inspiration (and perspiration) when running. If only a few ideas come to me, I construct a mnemonic, but I usually take a pen and paper with me so I can record more complex ideas (should I be so lucky).
I also get a lot of inspiration in the shower. That’s not as convenient because the paper gets soggy.
For shower-time inspirations, I can recommend Crayola’s waterproof crayons, which are designed for writing on wet surfaces. Keep one in the shower, then write your ideas on the wall. They wash off later without too much hassle and can be a life-saver when it comes to remembering your precious notes.
Constructing a mnemonic sounds like a good idea, but I’m not sure that it would work for me. I tend to just imagine the scene in my head and cement it in my mind that way. It works maybe 80% of the time. 
I use a smartphone when an idea strikes at an inconvenient time like when I’m away from my computer. I open Google Docs, create a new doc and start talking. It converts speech to text. It doesn’t transcribe perfectly, but it records it well enough to capture the idea. I also print a hard copy directly from the smartphone. Of course, it’s rude to this when you’re with people. In that situation, you have to really commit the idea to memory for later recall (or if necessary, make an excuse to leave the room). I also have paper and pens all over the house and in the car as my backup plan.
When you really, really can’t get away from what you’re doing, try this: say to yourself that when you see a certain object later, you will recall the whole concept. E.g., when I next open the fridge I will remember to write down blah, blah, blah. It might sound silly, but nine times out of ten this works for me.
Now there’s a good idea, setting up my phone to take dictation. I should probably try that. I was fortunate in that I was at home and could get my notebook out, but next time I’m at the supermarket or something that would be really useful. People would look at me strangely, yes, but it would be useful.
I like the fridge tip, too – that could well work. Thanks for the ideas!
I repeat the key themes/ideas/images over to myself several times if I don’t have paper/pencil or smartphone handy and I’ve found that works decently well. Given all the revision I do anyway, I figure that as long as I have the essence of the idea to translate onto paper, then I’m doing okay.
That’s an excellent point. Revising means that you are going to have just about everything you need in there anyway, so as long as you can remember the main points you’re going to be alright. Repetition is a good way of remembering things, kind of like rote learning at school, but if it does the job then why not? Great idea, and thank you!
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