Darn those lost bits!

by Betsy Love

Coming home from work the other day I had the greatest idea pop into my little brain. They don't seem to be coming very often, so when I get them I think to myself, "Wow, what a great story idea. I'm going to write a whole book about that." But by the time I got home and then got busy doing other things, poof! there went the idea.

I've been racking my brain now for days trying to remember that great story plot idea I had and nothing. Don't you just hate that!

I can't tell you how many times I've done that. I tell my students all the time to keep a journal with you for those great moments of inspiration. I do that, but my problem is I have bought so many of those little notebooks that I can't keep track of them, or I've turned them into grocery lists and other such nonsense.

I think MaryEllen (a former ANWA member) had the right concept when she whipped off her shoe in the middle of the grocery store and wrote her idea on the insole. I laughed at the time, but hey, her book got published. Next time I have a great idea, I'm going to write it on the windshield in blood if I have to. That should help me remember. Or create a call to the psychiatric ward. But then, we writers have never been known to be exactly sane.