Jessie: In New Hampshire, deep into revisions on a new novel!
September always brings to mind freshly sharpened pencils, notebooks, yellow buses, and, of course, learning. I don’t know any writers who are not interested in learning, partly, I think, because we tend to be curious people. We also tend to collect bits of information on the things we are curious about in some sort of a system . It might be a shoe box filled with newspaper clippings, a notebook, or even a gazillion tabs left open on the computer. So Wickeds, how do you keep track of all those things that pique your curiosity?
Barb: You mean aside from falling down World Wide Web rabbit holes? I don’t keep track of big picture things that interest me because they’re always there, lingering in my mind, pricking at me. But I do count myself very lucky if there’s a strong, narrative non-fiction book about whatever I’m researching. If the book is good, it’s work and pleasure all in one nice package!
Edith/Maddie : System ? What is this system you speak of? So many ideas and bits of information rise up all the time. The odd ones I think might spark a short story I try to capture on my white board. ( Ironing money. Autocorrect errors. When the rotating lights in a hot tub get stuck on red. You get the picture.) When I get ideas for a future novel, I add it to an Ideas folder in my Scrivener project for that series. The articles about history or the printouts about some subject or other tend to get lost in piles, alas.
Sherry: I have a file folder filled with ideas in my desk. I have another folder on my desktop called book ideas. And then I have articles that inspired me bookmarked on my computer.
Liz: I wish I was that organized, Sherry! I usually end up dictating a note into my Notes app on my phone if something catches my attention – then I wind up scrolling through a million notes to find it when I vaguely remember!
Julie: I have a file with ideas, but I don’t look at them. I’m working with Evernote on a better system. I’ll let you know how that goes, LOL.
Readers : How do you keep track of ideas for projects?
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