Image Craig Hayworth
You know you have a problem when you desperately run hot water in the bathroom to try and bring back the notes you scribbled in the steam on the mirror… there was, after all, nothing else handy. And you were naked, dripping and had a mouth full of toothpaste. You did think about using that, but it takes ages to clean the mirror… you found that out last time.
Every receipt has notes on it… some in lipstick, because although you know you have fifteen pens in your purse, you can’t find one quick enough. There should have been a notebook too… one of the many you now own, but they are all strewn across the desk from where you last tried to decipher the scribbles that look more like the tracks of a drunken slug. Mainly as they were written half asleep, one handed, while pouring coffee and feeding the dog… that or the lipstick smudged.
You have voice software on your phone, but never remember to switch it on in the car and by the time you’ve found somewhere to park, remembered what the thing is called/how to open it/what the password was, the idea has vanished. It was probably the best you’d ever had too.
You have even, in tense moments, used the carrot peel to spell out a word in the hope it would remind you of the train of thought when you’ve finished cooking. Not that you do it often, unless it comes as something you can just stuff in the oven.
You could use a ghostwriter… not to write for you, oh no… just to follow you around invisibly taking notes. Alternatively, your idea of a dream gadget would be an wireless gizmo, permanently turned on and set into your dentistry that could record every idea direct to the PC, neatly transcribed, with correct grammar and contextual references… because that’s the worst problem. Even the ideas you do manage to jot down with ample detail at the time, when found some weeks later lurking in a fluff-filled pocket corner, always seem like a string of unconnected words that elicit only blankness from the creative mind… and the whole piece had come out in one perfect stream too. Now it is a disjointed mess that gets filed away half written in the hope that another receipt will show up.
And yes, you’ve done the writerly thing and scribbled on restaurant napkins. Which is all very well most of the time, but the waiter is none too pleased when they are fabric affairs… and you’ve learned it is wiser to transcribe the notes onto the back of the bill before leaving, wondering, as you do so, if copyright law applies to napkins…
The problems are endless and compounded by the fact that you never note down enough. Yet, the alternative is unthinkable…
Can you imagine not seeing the world as an unlimited source of inspiration? No matter what genre you write, there is always something… even if it is only your own random thoughts or a snippet of conversation that decides to join forces with a memory or some vague imagining. Every face tells a story, every shadow holds a secret waiting to be discovered… the world becomes a treasure chest overflowing with gems and the writer’s garret suddenly seems to hold all the riches of the world*.
*Except royalties…
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
And that’s why –although I haven’t worn lipstick in years–I’ll never be without it!
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I seldom wear it either…. but I never move without it 😉
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I put everything in my calendar which I have on my computer, my Kindle, and my phone. And I even have a notebook … if only I could find it …
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Oh the software is there… but accessing it at the right moment? Lipstick is quicker;)
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Haha!!! I absolutely love this Sue! It’s so true. For my birthday this year I asked my husband for an aquanotes book (it’s a waterproof book for the shower), he of course thought I was mad! 🙂
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Oooh… you can get such things? *runs to Google*….
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Oh this made me giggle! If I’m at work,met here is an endless supply of scrap paper and crayons… But on the go, I use my phone notes app( cos I’m kinda technical😉) or, as you say,maths mad scramble for whatever paper or writing tool i can find!!!!
The visual inspiration from day to day life means I have to have my phone at all times, to take photos. Can’t afford a good camera yet, so it does a great job!
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Cameras on phones are great these days. Though I know my camera costs less than most phones.. 😉
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Lol! Yes they are rather less phone and more…everything else nowadays!!!
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Tell me about it 🙂 I just love living in my childhood’s future 🙂
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😊😊
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Too funny, Sue…you also need someone to follow the dog around for her thoughts!! 🙂
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She seems to have a far longer memory than me 😉
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Oh, yes, total recognition from me.
I like the suggestion of an notebook to have in the shower. And for those middle-of-the-night ideas there is a pen which lights up so you can scribble them down in the dark. It doesn’t mean you’ll know next morning why you scribbled down such nonsense.
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That’s a darned good idea too! All we need now is an association chain to join the dots of scribbls 🙂
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I used to write on myself in biro until I took my jacket off in a meeting and the guy next to me asked what my tattoo was. I laughed, pulled back my shirt to explain and was horrified to see I’d apparently written ‘penis’ in a flowery script. I had no idea what the idea was until I remembered later it was part of a quote I liked about pens. I need to invest in lipstick
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Just choose a lipstick that doesn’t clash with the beard, Geoffle 😉 All I’m sating… 😉
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I think an emperor purple perhaps
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That would be a striking combination 😀
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I can SO identify with this in SO many aspects/areas of my life. Thanks for the early morning (for me) chuckles 😉
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It gets a bit ridiculous sometimes, doesn’t it ? 😉
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Oh, does it ever! LOL 😉
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One of these days, I’m sure the little white van will turn up for me 😉
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This post made me smile. I get my best ideas while running and POOF, by the time I get home they’ve evaporated. Once I tried making up a little song in my head with my idea and I “sang” it to myself the whole way home. I could remember the tune I used, but not all the words by the time I reached my house. Maybe next time…. carrot peels!
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It’s the ideas that link the words that end up going missing… glorious revelations and all evaporated by the next breath… very frustrating 🙂
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Oh yeah!
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The ghost writer to take dictation on ideas would be great, but I need one that can transcribe the music I hear in my head. I usually recapture at least 60% of my story ideas, but I only get about 0.01% of the music I hear back.
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That I can understand… I have pictures I’ll never paint because my hands weren’t fast enough…
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Been there…done that…
Royalties? What are royalties….?
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I believe they are a myth at the end of the Amazonian rainbow 😉
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Ah, I see. I’ve often heard of them but thought them a myth…😂😂
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Probably about as real as the Leprachaun’s pot of gold…
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Now the ghostwriter to record your notes has definite appeal, that is, as long as he is tall, dark, handsome, and can cook.
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That made me pause… I missed that one! Nice work, Michelle 😉
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I once tried one of those voice recognition software programs and what the computer wrote looked like a spam email – gobbletigook – what a waste of money that was!
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Google’s own voice thing on my cell phone is pretty good these days… very good in fact. Unless I slip into a real Yorkshire accent… then it’s hilarious 🙂
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Ah yes, the compulsive writer’s affliction! 😊
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Mea culpa 😉
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Funny stuff, Sue. I can see the point though. An alternative at night is to sleep with the light on if you’re alone. I don’t have a light or flashlight (torch) near the bed. 😀
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I’ve done that too… though my window, being uncurtained, lets in a lot of moonlight 🙂
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