I've Trained Myself

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The shower was always my number one story-idea-getter. But lately my five year old suddenly decided he has to poop when I'm in there (even through we have three bathrooms!). It's kinda hard to concentrate on story plot lines when he's right there singing and talking to the wall.

Lately I've somehow trained myself to wake up in the morning, but stay in that in-between place of sleep and alert. As soon as I wake, and before I open my eyes, I force myself to think about the story I'm working on.

I have an outline (my first ever) done on my current WIP. What I didn't have was a good opening. I was just going to start writing anyway and hope a better opening would come to me later on. But now I don't have to. As I lay in bed this morning, I started thinking/dreaming about a story I heard recently about a man and a woman. I love the story (he was seeing her for a long time, he died suddenly, and she found out he was married), and wondered if I could apply it to YA. I just let my mind drift with scenarios, dialogue, etc. and came up with the perfect (at least to me) opening.

Once I have all my questions and problems figured out (at least for the moment), I grab my iPhone and type in some notes. I used to keep a pen and notebook by my bed, but I found it difficult to read my writing later. And if I don't write the notes in my phone right away, I will definitely forget the feeling of what I was trying to convey, if not the entire idea all together.

Comments

Pat Tillett said…
I would pay money for the type of drug that would allow me to concentrate like that!
January 29, 2011 at 4:00 PM
Sherilyn Nicole said…
I need something like that. I tend to get all my ideas in the shower too but by the time I'm dried off my mind refuses to remember them. Maybe I'll try for as soon as I wake up. Here's keeping my fingers crossed : )
January 30, 2011 at 10:04 PM
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