Tips for Writing Ooo Save Ideas for Later

(somebody’s son # 5 by LewSethics)

Tips for Writing   Save Ideas for Later

If you are like me you are probably one of those people that have interesting ideas or unusual observations on a regular basis.  The thoughts just keep coming with mad regularity, and if you put the brakes on and focus on an item, your mind disassembles and examines it from various perspectives.

Critical thinking can be described as a meditative examination of the world around us.  You will be surprised at how often what you actually see is different from the preconceptions you had about the observed thing.  Amusing and or intelligent observations go the way of the dinosaur if you don’t write them down for yourself*.

(*Yourself: it is imperative that you are able to decipher your own notes.  Sometimes I write so fast I can’t make half of the words out.  Sometimes I write key words in code that don’t mean anything later.  Sometimes I write a perfect line of poetry but later can’t find any meter in it, although I knew it was there somewhere.  Sometimes I allude to something I don’t remember later.  Writing good notes takes practice.)

Write down ideas on anything handy.  Don’t forget to take them out of your pockets.  Have some central place for bits of paper, like a tabletop or some other flat surface you can use to move bits of paper around.  I use a corkboard on a wall behind a small table because it is all right in front of your line of sight that way.

Single lines of verse, by which I mean sentences that have meter and some dramatic feel should always be saved.  Many of my poems begin as things that fit together nicely and evolve into a finished product.  Believe it or not, sometimes I use scraps of ideas over 20 years old.  Sometimes the same idea or fine turn of phrase can be used in different situations, so don’t throw the idea away just because you used it.

I eventually tape these bits of ideas to sheets of regular typing paper so that they won’t get lost, and this lines them up nicely so the phrases can be seen against each other.  Even though the sheets are all over the place, sometimes you read this line, sometimes you see that one.  My poem “It’s OK, I Have Medicine” was entirely put together from disparate bits, the oldest bit about fifteen years old when the poem came together.

Some people use a filing system of some sort to organize their thoughts, and that is a good way to go.  I personally have an area that is just a chaotic mess of bits of paper and pages of ideas that I consolidated, and some favorite music lyrics etc.  For me the chaos is conducive to creativity, because I will discover ideas of mine that I had forgotten about and they refresh my confidence.  Those are my words that sound so inspiring, and my chest swells with pride as I go on to write some new thing, secure in the knowledge that I do have some talent.

Confidence in you talent as a writer is important if you are going to try to write about things that take some explaining. 

Anyone can describe a beautiful woman, a good writer can make you love her or hate her, a great writer can make you love her and hate her.

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(my jeanette # 5 by LewSethics)

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http://www.picable.com/photographers/LewSethics.274182/1

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http://authspot.com/short-stories/dont-look-now-but-your-show-is-slipping/2/

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http://authspot.com/poetry/cant-find-my-way-home/

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http://quazen.com/arts/on-the-question-what-is-art/

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