- Isolation
- Suspension
- Feeling Overwhelmed
- Indecision
- Ideas: Too Many or Too Few
- Obstacles
Dealing with too many or too few ideas is typically the lot of the author. Either she is bombarded by ideas on every side or is unable to come up with even a single good topic to write about. Usually the former happens when the author is asleep or engaged in other activities. The latter can be induced by a blank sheet of paper or a lonely blinking cursor.
The solution to the idea dilemma is to learn to harness the flow of ideas. A rancher in the desert digs a canal, builds a dam, or sets out tanks to direct or collect life-giving water. Similarly, the author must find a way to channel ideas when they’re available.
How to do this is a very individual thing. Some authors dictate ideas into their phones. Others keep sticky notes all over the house, or keep a pen and notepad close to every station of their daily routine. Whatever works for you, starting doing it ASAP, and keep at it.
The next challenge related to corralling your ideas is knowing how to organize them. It’s pointless to have dozens of great ideas if you can’t find them when you start working on something new. You know you made notes about that subject. Unfortunately, they’re in that “safe place” that no one seems to be able to find.
So what’s the answer?
If you’re old school, you can resort to 3×5 cards in a recipe box. Or those old-fashioned manila file folders. There’s something comforting about being able to literally put your hands on your notes for a current project.
The advent of computers has completely revamped the way we archive our materials. Now that we can store hundreds of files in the space it used to take for only a handful, it’s even more important to organize. Newer software has taken some of the pressure off by creating sophisticated search functions. This works well unless you’re too good with synonyms. Did I file that under Class? Or Course? School maybe? Workshop? The old library card catalogs contained a useful feature. It was called “See” or “See also.” If you looked up the wrong term, the card would refer you to the official library category or send you to a related subject. I’m still waiting for someone to add that feature to my computer files!
Now we also have the option of storing almost anything in the mysterious “Cloud.” Whatever that is. I remember learning that a preposition was anything you could do to a cloud. It could be in, on, through, above, below, inside, around . . . (you get the idea.) What does that mean to me? It just means I have even more places to lose my great ideas.
If they are really great. How can we separate the good ones from the bad? You’re on your own with that one.
Some native Americans made use of a little object called a dream catcher. Its purpose was to separate the bad dreams from the good. It worked by trapping the bad dreams in the web while the good dreams slid down the feather and entered the sleeper’s consciousness.
I think someone needs to invent a similar device for authors. Call it an Idea Catcher. I’m sure I’d be an early adopter if I could find something that would prevent me from losing my good ideas and wasting time pursing all the bad ones.
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