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Memory Retrieval Methods

Posted on March 10th, 2010 in Writing by Karen Gross
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Don’t you just hate it when you get a really great writing idea, but it falls out of your brain before you get to your computer? Here are a few tips that might work:

Use an anchor word

          If you get an idea and can’t write it down, think of a word that will remind you of your idea. Here is an example:

 I find that I get my best ideas in the shower. They flow into my brain when I turn on the water, but then they get washed down the drain. This morning, I thought of an amusing anecdote to include in an article about how I came to know God. I didn’t want to forget this snippet, so I told myself to remember the word “toilet” to remind me of the anecdote. Sure enough, while I was drying off, I realized that once again, I couldn’t remember my water inspired idea, but I knew it had something to do with the toilet. Then it came back to me: the first time I remember asking my dad who God was, I was 3 or 4. He told me that God was invisible, and I thought – what if He is in the toilet and I pee on Him? I was a weird kid.

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Keep notepads and pens handy

I tried an experiment last week to see if the ideas that come to me in the shower are really as good as I thought they were when I get out of the shower and realize that I’ve completely forgotten them. You can read about my experiment in What Happens In My Shower Stays in my Shower.

Lots of writers get their ideas from dreams. Keep a notepad and pen beside your bed to write them down.

 Backtrack

When you lose your thought, think back to where you were when you last thought of it. If you can, physically go back to that place. Your thought might still be there. It works for me sometimes.

Call your answering machine

If you get a great idea when you are away from home, call your answering machine before you forget. Then when you get home, you can remind yourself and write that article.

 Write it on something

I’ve got a shoebox full of bits of notes with scribbles of ideas, quotes, cartoons, jokes – stuff I’ve clipped from newspapers, magazines, church bulletins – ideas for future writing projects are everywhere.

Here’s a bit of irony: I’m sure that I had at least two more ideas of how to remember ideas, but I accidentally deleted them. I guess I’ll have to write a sequel when I remember them.

 

 

 

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