Ideas! What do we do with them all?

Plodding along with a work in progress...

Bammo! From out of the mists of somewhere (for me that might be the world between worlds)-A NEW IDEA.

It could be a brilliant title. A character who leans insolently against a door frame insisting you tell HIS story. A line from a song that sparks a plot point. An overheard bit of dialog that would fit in great with that guy in the doorway.

Writing is hard work. Often getting the story right can seem like pure drudgery. Like vacuuming. So it's easy to become distracted.

New ideas are fun, exciting, alluring. Like a secret affair. For a short while you can leave the hard work and escape. Capture the excitement--see the possibilities.

Your languishing work in progress is relegated to the back of your mind and although the regret makes you pause. Ohhh, how you want that new idea in your life.

Never fear--there is a place for your new ideas. You just have to figure out how to deal with them and put them in their places, waiting until they can be your main focus. Resist the urge to set aside your WIP to fall completely into the temptation of a new idea. Jot down your thoughts in a notebook. Or start a file on your computer. Record as much as you need to remember your idea and excitement then return to your WIP. Remember that it's easy to start--but it takes work and determination to finish.

Most of my new ideas tend to end up on slips of paper or written in the margins of a notebook or manuscript pages. Periodically, I glean all those ideas, thoughts, snippits and put them in folders or notebooks designated for each idea. Stuff I don't know too much about yet, has its own place. And boy, is it fun to read through all those old ideas. Sometimes they stand as they did when first thought about. Other times a brand new idea forms. And the process begins again.

Share your idea saving strategies here... You never know when what you say may become a flash of inspiration for another writer!