FKhats B-Log Adventure

How do you keep your ideas?

How do you keep your ideas

Hello Hello Hello!

I was going through my Story Library and wondered how everyone else keeps their golden story ideas that just can’t be worked on right away? 

Do you keep, as I do, a library of writable ideas?  I flesh mine out as much as possible, it takes about an hour or two to really flesh it out (longer if it is a truly splendiferous idea), and then I stash them away to play with later.  I keep these ideas in a library, complete with a Catalog (master reference list).  The library entries are named by date of idea or record (yymmdd) - Title - Descriptor (If title doesn’t ring enough when looking back).

I then have a “Story kit” file that I drop the original info into and rename when I move it from the Idea Library into the WIPS room.  My WIPS Room has its own naming convention too.  In the Catalog, I keep entries in a simple numbered list, separated out by year:  ###. TITLE - Note (Date). Both the Idea Library and WIP Room are referenced in the Catalog.

I keep both a paper and a journal, both paper and digital.  I convert the paper to digital about once a quarter. monthly if I am overly prolific. (I type faster, paper's too slow for me.)

Everything is written in basic MS Word, and kept in a simple file tree on a mini-DS card that is permanently inserted into a portable SD reader.  I take it everywhere with me.  The drive is cheap, replaceable, and the iOmega brand survives my daily commute to and from Cubeland.  I have a spare that is replaced asap if the main dies. 

I use Allsync (freeware) on my PC to back it up on the main hard drive (lesson learned after the “Chair” incident where I ran over my card, quarterly backups are not enough for an active writer, causes extreme case of writer-rage when lost).

The ideas that are kept are just the ones I think worth keeping and exploring.  Of those, only the ones I am able to catch the spill before they depart make the list.  They can be slippery and short lived if you don’t write them down right away.  Fortunately many come back for a visit and I can catch them then, usually when I am working on something else.

Current Idea Collection:
Since 2004:  154
2012:  10

How about you?  Do you keep just titles like Ray Bradbury?  Do you just focus on the work you are currently on and build ideas around your publishing/story needs?  Are they dreams you keep in a dream diary?  Do you collect stories like shinies in a massive paper horde you browse through and count words?  Do you collect words, images, or puzzles that lead you to stories?  Do you cut out or print headlines and biographies?

How DO you hold onto the really good story ideas you can’t work on right now?

Keep Writing
         ~ Faith

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Next Topic:  Where and how to tap, trap, and steal ideas.
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Frequency: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday
Personal WC Daily Goal: 1000
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