Comments on: Shooting Blanks

By: BernardL

BernardL — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:09:00 +0000

Once a concept excites me, I start writing. Brief outlines help me map out a complex scene, but I do no storyboards. I confess to making a few notes as enigmatic as yours though.

By: Maggie Robinson

Maggie Robinson — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:50:00 +0000

Oh, Santa. I sure hope you find it! If only I knew enough about my story, I could storyboard. But I'm a complete pantser---stuff only comes as I sit and type.

Gillian, I wonder if I could talk into a tape recorder, too. I can't even really write stuff with a pen. I need the keyboard, although I can't type to save my life. Weird.

Janga, what a perfectly poetic post, LOL. So very familiar, too.

By: Gillian Layne

Gillian Layne — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:55:00 +0000

Huge notebook in a vastly unorganized tote posing as a ‘purse’. Lots of scribbled notes as soon as I quit driving, because all my best ideas come while I’m driving. I’ve tried the voice activated recorder, but once I talk, I lose my train of thought.

Christmas shopping? Are you nuts? That’s why God created December 23rd…:)

By: Janga

Janga — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:40:00 +0000

I too keep a notebook in my purse, and I even write down ideas with a fair amount of detail. But then I forget about the notebook. Just the act of writing something down often seems to engrave it on my brain as well. So I remember most of what I take the time to write. On the other hand, ideas that I don’t write down are like colorful, helium-filled ballons that float away into the blue. I retain an impression of brightness but the shades and shapes and textures of the ideas are gone.

By: Santa

Santa — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:25:00 +0000

I have notes everywhere. In notebooks. In my head. On order sheets from the store. I rewrote my whole opening scene and I hope to God I wrote it down somewhere!

Sigh. I’d love to try my hand at storyboarding. It seems to have helped so many others.

By: Maggie Robinson

Maggie Robinson — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:22:00 +0000

Terrio, I seriously thought of giving CRS a plug. I find lists all over the house…not in my bag, where they need to be. Just the other day I found the Thanksgiving dinner menu under my bed. I hope I served everything. *g*

Hellion, I have some big spiral notebooks too but I can’t really read my handwriting, especially when my brain is going faster than my hands. And when I write in the dark—

Stephanie, I have forever solved the pen/pencil problem. My wallet has a loop in the middle for a pen, and I actually keep returning it to its place. I always have a writing instrument now—genius! Now if only my ideas were.

Kelly, my best ideas, such as they are, come when I’m pecking away, completely unplanned. When I reread the stuff, I’m constantly amazed and wonder if my body got taken over by an alien or something. That would explain so much.

Tiff, I have my own blanket, which I mummify myself with. I cannot share. John would steal the covers and then throw them on the floor and I’d freeze to death. Now I’m just like Linus, blanket trailing behind.

By: terrio

terrio — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:17:00 +0000

I’m assuming it’s redundant at this point to say I can’t remember things. If I go to the grocery store without a list, I’m screwed. Last night, I put the raffle tickets for my daughter’s softball league next to my cell phone so I wouldn’t forget them. I have the phone. Guess where the tickets are.

If I make notes, I have to make detailed notes. Though while driving this weekend, I wrote down (while driving 80mph down I-85) “First love scene – caught in rain.” I’m pretty sure I’ll have no problem remembering what that means.

Now I just have to get to that dang part of the book!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:27:00 +0000

Crack me up! Glad it wasn’t you that was snoring! But ok, sometimes I almost wonder if it’s better to be the snorer because then you’re not the one trying to fall asleep while the other person is snoring!

I keep a little Moleskine notebook in my purse. It’s dedicated to writing but it’s SO hard not to use it when I need to jot down some random shopping list item. Half the time, when I need to jot something down, I realize that I’ve left the pencil on my kitchen counter or in the car. Gah!

By: Tiffany Kenzie

Tiffany Kenzie — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:22:00 +0000

I usually forgot the brilliant things I think up. If i have a story idea. I jot down a beginning (300-500 words) and come back to it later. So far, so good, I haven’t forgotten too much when I come back to it, and other ideas start percolating in my head when I open up something I wrote down months ago.

Love the tape recorder. My husband can’t deny it. My kids always tease him about daddy snores really loud! I don’t snore I did once when I was really sick. But I’m quiet. I toss and turn and steal all the blankets instead.

By: Kelly Krysten

Kelly Krysten — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:46:00 +0000

lol. MAggie I think we were separated at birth. I always forget my ‘brilliant’ ideas and my notes make little sense. My best ideas come when I can’t write anything, though.
Great blog post!