What Was That Again?

Alethea Mermaid

Alethea Mermaid

I had a great idea for this blog post the minute I woke up. It was a fabulous premise, brief in nature, and open for comments. I was going to make the title “You Are Cordially Invited”, which would have been a clever play on…WHAT? ON WHAT? BECAUSE I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT I WAS GOING TO WRITE ABOUT.

I’ve had these moments since I was a kid. I’ve written on receipts and postcards. I’ve scribbled a poem in the wee hours of the morning inside the back cover of a Richie Rich digest. When I got older, I started keeping a small note pad or a stack of post-its beside my bed (and in the shower) to write down random bits of genius.

When I started driving, my parents bought me a handheld tape recorder. When I got a phone, I would call myself and leave messages on the answering machine. When I upgraded to an iPhone, I began sending emails to myself.

I have a really great memory, and I can usually commit things fairy well. Which is a problem…because sometimes I really *can* remember things (like the title to that fun blog post), and sometimes I can’t (hello, CONTENT). I will be half asleep and *tell* myself to roll over and send an email before I forget some very important plot point. Sometimes I listen. Sometimes I don’t.

Writers out there: I know you have moments like this. How do you force yourself to remember? And what tools do you use? I’m curious.

(And if the subject of that “Cordially Invited” blog post ever comes back to me…I’ll be sure to let you know!)

5 thoughts on “What Was That Again?

  1. For me, the harder I try to remember…the harder it gets! I find that if I just relax…try not to think about it…and go about the day, the thought comes back when you least expect it. Let’s hope because it sounds like a great blog idea and I can’t wait to read it.

  2. I’m the same. USUALLY I remember everything, which is why on the rare occasions when I don’t that I get CRAZY mad at myself! Interestingly though, with story ideas, I get them all freaking day long. Non stop. Constant. Other people living in my head. But the ones that keep coming back and really won’t shut up are the ones I end up writing. 😉 Did this even make sense?

  3. I forgot more bits of genius than anyone. Hence, why I’ve yet to actually write that book of pure genius. It’s sad, really. I’ll have such a fantastic idea or perfect book title that I’ll think, “This is so amazing that there’s no possible way I’ll forget it while I’m finishing up my one more mile on this stupid stationary bike.” Then I realize that it’s forgotten. It’s stuck in there with all the other random pieces of forgotten brilliance. I have dreams of all of a sudden recalling all of it, but it would probably send me into a tailspin.
    I’ve taken to writing notes on my phone. Pieces of scratch paper. Backs of advertisements. Anything. Then they end up getting thrown away or sit around for so long that I can’t remember the connection to the thought.
    But, I’m really looking forward to that future blog post. Keep us posted. 🙂

  4. No comment. Really. I was in the edge of sleep two nights ago and had an idea. Swore I would remember it. Promised myself I would remember! Scolded myself for lying to myself and made me get up and write it down. On paper. In the kitchen. Where I would find it the next morning.

    Which is exactly what happened, and a great bonus for keeping the fires lit under this WIP!

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