Forget-me-not (Photo credit: Sir_Iwan)
Or, at least, having a memory like a sieve. That’s me at the moment – I have great ideas, but I neglect to write them down or otherwise record them, and the next day I have absolutely no idea what they were. Or even, in some cases, what they related to.
Take today. Yesterday I had a brilliant idea for today’s blog entry. It was going to be a little bit different but still on my theme, and I was going to have no end of things to say about it. Trouble is, that’s all I can remember. It’s not like I have an excuse for forgetting, either; baby brain is on the way out, I’m getting plenty of sleep, and I had my phone (and pencils and paper) nearby at the time so I could very easily have made some record of what this big idea was. But, you know, I didn’t. Something to do with it being nice and warm under my blanket on the couch and not wanting to move, I suspect. (Either that or I didn’t want to pause Death in Paradise. I have such a weakness for British whodunnits.)
Naturally, I suspect everyone reading this can relate. Whether it’s to do with your writing, or just life in general, I’m sure every single one of you has had the occasional sensational idea, only to have it slip away when you weren’t paying attention. Ideas are naughty like that, aren’t they? You ask them so nicely to just stay put until you need to use them, but they insist on skipping off and doing their own thing. I’m sure my idea is in the Bahamas sipping cocktails by the pool by now, thumbing its nose at me, or at the very least tucked up warm in bed. In any case, it’s nowhere near my head, where I need it to be right now.
So, instead, today you get this rambling post from me about forgetting things. I seem to be doing it more often these days, which isn’t ideal, especially as I have this annoying habit of not writing things down. This happens even more when they don’t directly pertain to my WIP. I’m aware it’s a simple case of retraining myself to record more things, but unfortunately this old dog isn’t that keen on learning too many new tricks. Surely this reinvention of myself as a writer is enough? Why do I have to remember stuff too?
Okay, I’ll stop whining now. Hopefully this episode will in fact be enough for me to learn my lesson and take note of the ideas when they come calling, even when they don’t move the plot of my novel forward. There is clearly merit in the occasional idea outside that particular creative process. Therefore I am now going to my brain, cap in hand, and promising to pay it more attention in future. Promising to write things down when they come to me, rather than assuming I’ll remember them when the time comes. And hopefully, next time the creative urges strike, I’ll be ready and able to jot something down.
Related articles
- The Virtues of Daydreaming (newyorker.com)
- When Your Muse Has Left the Building (ginalawlessbooks.wordpress.com)
- What’s your name again? Lack of interest, not brain’s ability, may be why we forget (sciencedaily.com)
Hey there, just stumbled upon your blog! I have to say, this always happens to me. I have a brilliant idea when I’m in the middle of working out, about to fall asleep, or in the middle of making a smoothie at work. I’ve tried to combat it in ridiculous ways–writing on the back of receipts or saving my ideas as a draft on my phone until I can get home and put it on the computer.
As you said, this is definitely a relate-able post!
Thank you! It’s something that we’ve all done, but the timing of it this week was just particularly irksome. I’m sure I’ll remember what this post was supposed to be about at, say, three o’clock tomorrow morning. Sigh. But yes, I can totally relate to what you do. It’s an occupational hazard, isn’t it?
I think it must be–so many occupational hazards of being a writer that I’ve just started calling them personality quirks!
Now that you’ve clicked ‘submit’ on this post, I’ll bet you’ve remembered your original idea.
Now, write it down.
You would think that, wouldn’t you? But no, unfortunately not. Don’t worry, though, I’m fully expecting it to reappear, probably in the wee hours of the morning. Assuming I can drag myself out of my nice warm bed, I’ll write it down then. If not, then it will probably remain forgotten. Sigh.
That blasted muse! She more than likely had a date. She will be back probably with a vengence.
I hope so! That she comes back, that is, not that she had a date. Heaven only knows the last thing I need is for to keep nipping off like that when I need her.
Happens to me a lot! I’m trying to get better about jotting things down when they come to me but sometimes I still don’t, especially when the idea comes to me just as I’m dropping off to sleep!
Oh, isn’t that just the worst? Because you don’t know whether you should get up and write the idea down, or succumb to sleep and just hope like hell you remember it. I must admit, though, the likelihood of me getting up (or even propping myself up to reach for the bedside table) is directly related to how much colder it is outside the bed than in.