Capturing Your Thoughts as a Writer

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”
Napoleon Hill—Author of Think and Grow Rich

Have you ever drawn a blank trying to remember a name or a fact only to have the answer come in a flash hours later? The same can happen when you are writing a book. Once you determine the vision for your book, ideas will percolate easier and will come at some of the most inopportune times. The last thing you want is to forget these great ideas because you didn’t record them in some way. Here are some suggestions:

1. Keep a notebook (or multiple notebooks in various locations) with you, even beside your bed. You want to capture those jewels of inspiration whether they occur in the car, waiting in line at the store, or in the middle of the night. Some of the best ideas I have had were written on napkins at restaurants or on the back of church bulletins. Write down everything that comes to mind—good ideas or bad. Just get them documented. You can sort them out later.
2. Use technology to record thoughts. Don’t have paper and/or a pen? Send yourself a voice mail, text message, email, or create a note on your phone. If you are searching the internet and come across something great, email the link to yourself. (I use a uniquely created and dedicated email account for each writing project.) Transfer these ideas to a more permanent document as soon as you can!
3. Capture other things you write. Participate in online message boards or use a blog to test ideas for the book. Newsletters can serve the same purpose. Finally, don’t forget to record your posts from social media which, by design, scroll away from view within a few days.
4. Keep a box or file cabinet to store hard copies of ideas. In preparation for writing, gather the books and magazine articles you used as references and keep them handy in simple banker’s box, dedicated file, or on a shelf in your office. For shorter documents, such as research articles, scan and email the PDF to your dedicated email account with a descriptive subject line.
5. Create your resource or reference list as you write. Keep an open Word document on your computer whenever you are writing. Update the document each time you touch one of your resource materials. It is always better to give credit to the least of your contributors than leave one out.
6. Finally, keep track of unrelated ideas that come while you are writing. Creativity begets creativity. You will likely find that your brain is on fire with all sorts of project ideas as you write! Keep track of those valuable tidbits in a different computer folder so that you can capitalize on that inspiration after you are done with the current project!

Julie Beyer, MA, RD
NE Authors and Writers Specialty Group Chair