Writing challenges 1: writing in your head

A few days ago I asked What are YOUR writing challenges?

Ski replied:

I have difficulty with organizing and writing down notes regarding my writing ideas. I have these ideas floating around in my head for a long time, but when they've congealed to the point that I finally feel that I should write them down, I can't seem to figure out how to do that without losing or missing some part of the idea. It's severely aggravating, and when I hit that wall I lose my motivation.

Write it ALL down

Ski, writing in your head is a waste, as you've discovered. The problem is that ideas which seem wonderful as we think about them are almost impossible to get from the brain to the keyboard in one step.

When we're thinking about something, our brain makes rich connections - it flips from idea to idea, and all those ideas resonate with us, because of our personal experiences. That's the reason these ideas seem "good"...

However, when you're writing, you need to write all those resonances down, and even using stream of consciousness writing, this is impossible.

The best way to write is just to write: write down whatever's in your head. It's a process of discovery. Once you've written it down, you can work with it.

Let's say you get an idea: "childhood bullying".

OK, write down "childhood bullying". You immediately think about three or four things related to the topic. Write it down in a list, or make a mind map. Or you can write each additional idea on an index card.

If nothing else comes to mind, leave the topic for today.

Tomorrow, you look at your "childhood bullying" idea again, and get some more ideas. You write them down. You look up some references, and make a note to talk to a schoolteacher to see what's happening about bullying in the schools. Your remember your mother talking about bullying when she was young, so you write down that anecdote too.

As long as you write EVERYTHING down, as you think of it, you'll maintain your motivation, and your idea will grow, until you have enough to write an article or book. Just with the work above, on "childhood bullying" you'd have enough to write an article.

Hope this helps. Happy writing. :-)

Got a writing challenge? Please leave a comment.

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