You spend a couple days outlining the plot for a novel, in addition to creating some character sketches. You come up with a few character names and you write a portion of the first scene. You put away the project because something more important came along.
Then, years later, you search for the file.
You look everywhere—on your computer, on your backup hard drive, on your backup CDs. You check your file cabinets, in case you printed it out, and you go through old notebooks (just in case you remembered incorrectly and actually wrote the stuff down, old-school). You even check your safe deposit box at the bank.
You consult your Ouija board, too.
Nada.
The file is nowhere to be found.
Don’t you just hate that? (And don’t you hate reading stuff written in 2nd person? Well, don’t you?)
Posts
9 comments:
Family joke is me putting things in a safe place -- so safe even I can't find them.
2nd person is like listening to someone's mother walk them through life. Like they weren't capable of knowing they have a hangover from trying to drink enough to shut the voice out.
I long ago decided that the brilliant ideas and notes I remember writing but can’t find any trace of are floating around the same black hole as all the missing socks from my washer/dryer.
Around here, we have a file called "A Safe Place." Doesn't always help.
What I find is that there's something "important" on my desk--be it an address, a plot idea, a bill reminder, my favorite pen, whatever. It's always in the way, but it's right there, readily accessible. Until I need it. Then it's nowhere to be found.
Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
I do!
- but please don´t use my answer out of context ;)
Mary - Ha! I know what you mean about a safe place. I'm sure that's where my notes are, safe and sound.
Jane - I solved that problem. I don't wear socks anymore. (Of course, now I lose my shoes.)
Terry - Let me know if somehow my notes ended up on your desk, 'kay?
Dorte - Sometimes I think my entire life is out of context.
I always end up finding mine after I give up - but of course, by then, some serial sabotager has broken into my home stealth style and changed all my notes to be less than the spectacular unrepeatable piece of literary art that I remember it to be.
So frustrating! I usually find them in my car...
I too am a writer and have been asked many times where do I get my ideas from and I have always had difficulty in answering. Your question made me search my mind and the only thing I can come up with is that I am like a dream-catcher. Ideas can come at any time whilst walking down the street, driving your car, in mid conversation- which can be frustrating, sometimes more so for the other person, especially as I stop a lot to write things down. But the favorite place for ideas is when I am in a half sleep, I get so many ideas just before I'm properly awake that I now have a voice recorder on my bedside table which I use regularly.
The ideas found this way are not always the best as they don't seem as good in the cold light of day but some of them have been real gems and I have also found solutions to problems that have had me stuck in that way.
So what matters if your partner finds you odd the next NYT best seller might just be one of those.
Jack Everett www.jackleverett.me.uk
I too am a writer and have been asked many times where do I get my ideas from and I have always had difficulty in answering. Your question made me search my mind and the only thing I can come up with is that I am like a dream-catcher. Ideas can come at any time whilst walking down the street, driving your car, in mid conversation- which can be frustrating, sometimes more so for the other person, especially as I stop a lot to write things down. But the favorite place for ideas is when I am in a half sleep, I get so many ideas just before I'm properly awake that I now have a voice recorder on my bedside table which I use regularly.
The ideas found this way are not always the best as they don't seem as good in the cold light of day but some of them have been real gems and I have also found solutions to problems that have had me stuck in that way.
So what matters if your partner finds you odd the next NYT best seller might just be one of those.
Jack Everett www.jackleverett.me.uk
Post a Comment