One day, I decided to start an "idea" file in my computer. It's literally named "Idea."
Through three or four computers, I've kept that file. Lost a lot of other ones, but that one I've uploaded, backed-up and generally saved. The file is a security blanket for me so if the light bulb doesn't come on above my head--if it's covered in dust--I can still have a story idea.
I just didn't realize how big the file would get.
At the beginning I have a short section of names I wrote down so that I could go back and have a bit of an unusual name for a character. Names like Jolley.
It's a quick scroll to the next section of the file. This contains the beginnings of historical romances. One scene after another. I wrote some of them in the same way an artist might doodle on a sketch pad. Sort of a way to relax, or a way to hold on to a thought and see if I like it later.
If I click the key to go to the end of the file, I can scroll up and see the beginnings of contemporary novel ideas.
Sometimes after I see the ideas, I know I don't want to write that story--ever. But sometimes I see the words and I think I really, really want to write that story some day.
I know I'll never ever write probably one half of a per cent of the stories in that file. It's 90,000 words long. My sketch pad.
(The photo above is from the abandoned barn near my house.)
Through three or four computers, I've kept that file. Lost a lot of other ones, but that one I've uploaded, backed-up and generally saved. The file is a security blanket for me so if the light bulb doesn't come on above my head--if it's covered in dust--I can still have a story idea.
I just didn't realize how big the file would get.
At the beginning I have a short section of names I wrote down so that I could go back and have a bit of an unusual name for a character. Names like Jolley.
It's a quick scroll to the next section of the file. This contains the beginnings of historical romances. One scene after another. I wrote some of them in the same way an artist might doodle on a sketch pad. Sort of a way to relax, or a way to hold on to a thought and see if I like it later.
If I click the key to go to the end of the file, I can scroll up and see the beginnings of contemporary novel ideas.
Sometimes after I see the ideas, I know I don't want to write that story--ever. But sometimes I see the words and I think I really, really want to write that story some day.
I know I'll never ever write probably one half of a per cent of the stories in that file. It's 90,000 words long. My sketch pad.
(The photo above is from the abandoned barn near my house.)
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