Hold Onto Those Story Ideas

A cold summer day in Cornwall, UK

My morning started out with good news via my email inbox. First, there was a permission given from an editor to send a submission to another editor as a reprint. I wrote and asked because the original is just coming out in the June issue of the editor's publication. He answered affirmatively so off went the submission to another editor on the other side of the USA. 

The second piece of good news today was an acceptance from the Red Squirrel magazine in China. They liked my story "Just Plain Sarah Jane" and made an offer to purchase which I shall be happy to accept. 

Having two pieces of good news definitely leaves me inspired to get cracking on a new writing project. I've had an idea for a personal essay that has been swirling through my mind for days now. I needed a little nudge, or maybe a swift kick, to get started on it. Today's news was just what was called for to help me  create a furst draft,

If you have an idea for a poem or a story or essay that keeps coming back to you while doing your everyday chores, then it's time to act on it. If it won't leave you, then it must have some merit. I like to think so. Ioften have fleeting thoughts about something to write that are exactly that--fleeting thoughts. They flash through my mind and are gone just as quickly. It's the ones that make return visits that I pay attention to. 

If a story idea comes to you while you're zipping down the highway at 75 mph, you can't do much about it. But if the idea hits when you're unloading the dishwasher, take a minute or two away from that fascinating job and jot down a few notes. You can add to these notes as you get more thoughts regarding the new project. I find that the more notes I take, the more anxious I am to get started on the first draft. 

Capture those new idea thoughts before they evaporate, and believe me, they will disappear if you don't do something to keep them in your thinking process. You've all read suggestions from writers to have a pad of paper and pen or pencil on your bedside table. When a creative idea pops up in the middle of the night, jot down a few notes to remind yourself in the light of day. Keep a small pad of paper in your purse, or even a pocket, so you can write yourself a note about an idea when it hits in the grocery store or the doctor's waiting room.

The picture with today's post is one of me looking out toward the sea when we were in Cornwall, England last summer. I wasn't just sea-gazing. My mind was going in full speed thinking about a story I hoped to write using the seacoast as the place where the story would be set. I know that many of you do much the same. 

Ideas for new writing projects are well worth your effort to do all you can to save and then act upon them. Don't let them slip away. My good news today has been the trigger to get my new essay started. What triggers you into beginning a new writing project.