The Absentee Writer

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Catching Ideas When and Where They Come 

I have recently come to an understanding about why I have been absent from this blog. If I don't stop what I am doing and write down the thoughts in my head when they first show up, I forget them and lose the opportunity to share them. This isn't a new idea for me, but it is one I have been thinking on for a while. I am a follower of Patrick Rhone who writes online in a number of locations (Minimal Mac, his online Journal, and a newer site called iPad First to name a few) and records a podcast called Enough, which is a part of the 70Decibels Podcast Network. It was on one of the episodes of Enough (I don't recall which one, but I will try to update this with the actual show number) that Patrick talked about the way he writes and the fact that when his "writing brain" takes over, her has to write AT THAT VERY MOMENT or else the idea is gone. It doesn't matter where he is, it has to be written down or else the idea is lost and seldom ever found again.

This experience has happened to me a number of times and I have usually just figured I would remember the idea later and move on. Nine times out of 10 the idea has been lost and I have no recollection of what it was. There have been a few times however, where I have sat down and made of list of the ideas and then moved on without actually writing the full thought/story, which is where this post came from. This approach isn't the best either because the ideas aren't fully flushed out right away and may sit for months. (I had the idea for this post and four other posts come to me on 16 March 2012 and it is just now getting written.)

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this idea, other than to remind myself that if I get an idea that I need to write it down immediately so I don't lose it. And if possible, don't just write the idea, but the entire thought right then or else it may take another eight months to see it realized into an actual post.