Accept All of Your Ideas

 

A writer can’t afford to be selective or picky with their ideas. Ideas have a funny way of popping into our heads in ways that are incomplete, as snippets or as some “thing” to build on. (I call them “idea nuggets.”) For the most part, we tend to get ideas for things to write in all of its detailed glory, but if we only get a snippet of an idea, the writer may be tempted to trash it, ignore it, respond that it’s a “stupid” idea and berate themselves for even THINKING such a thing, or just allowing the idea to fester until it disappears.

 

Don’t make this mistake!

 

Grab hold of every single idea you get and hold onto it. Write it down or sketch it. (I have drawn many ideas that appeared to me as pictures.) Put that idea into words or a sketch and make sure you don’t lose it.

 

That bit of an idea for something can grow into a bigger idea for something – mainly, something to write.

 

There are many things that will catch the writer’s eye. This happens for a reason. This is something that the writer can build on, even if the writer does not know what it is, how to turn it into something to write, or what they could do with that idea. In such cases, don’t worry about the bigger picture. Just worry about getting that idea down on paper (or on your phone, like I do) and storing it with your other ideas for later use.

 

There was one time I decorated a whole hallway for Halloween. After I was done, I stood back and examined my work. Something about the arrangement said, “This could be a story.” Because I felt that this was something I could use in my writing, I made notes and took pictures. I used them several months later when I finally figured out what kind of story it would be.

 

The next time you have an idea for something, no matter how silly or unimportant the idea may seem, write it down. Record that idea. It just may turn into something you can write or use in your writing later on.

 

And speaking of saving ideas, make sure you keep all of your ideas where you can easily find them. Make sure you also can easily get to where you save4 ideas for the times you can’t access one method of doing so. I keep “Writing Notes” on my phone for all of my ideas. I also save them in an “Idea File” on my computer. And, of course, my writing notebook is always handy for me to write ideas down. My sketch book for visual ideas is in my drawer in my writing desk. Keep your ideas where you can get to them.

 

No matter what kind of idea you get or no matter what it is that catches your eye (or muse!), be sure to write it down. Don’t ever ignore or trash an idea. You just might end up using that idea later – and you’ll be glad you kept that idea instead of throwing it away!