Writing Problems

[kaelaaw]

Okay here's my problem. I have storie ideas and continuation chapters of my current works spinning around in my head. I picture them at work when there's nothing to do and I dream about them at night. But when I sit down to write them out my mind goes completely blank and I find myself staring at blank screen or blank piece of paper. Anyone have

Comments

[fran_fic]

That is tricky! My mind does that, too. As soon as I have some time to kill, or doing something that isn't that fun or interesting, when I try to sleep, and, strange enough, always in the shower, my mind so often goes to my stories and I get these great ideas, or the perfect turn of phrase suddenly pops into my head, or I suddenly see the solution to a tricky plot point that I've been stuck on. Or the characters starts to play out these scenes, dialogues or monologues in my head that just sounds/looks great... And later on, when I sit at the PC, it's ALL gone!

I try to do two things to capture some of it. If I know there will be time where my mind often does this, such as travelling where I'll sit on a bus for three hours, and so on, I'll make sure to have a notebook and pen with me, and I simply take down notes of what goes on in my brain.

If I don't have anything to take down notes on (as when I'm in the shower) I try to pick out a keyword from what I picture in my head, something that will recall that scene I saw, something to hook my memory on and that will get that scene going again, like pushing a button.

These methods aren't perfect. I think I'm still probably losing about 80 % of all the things that spin around in my head, and that sounded so good at the time (some things, it's probably good I forgot them :-D) but notes and keywords have still helped me a lot to recreate at least some of the stuff I picture in my head when away from the PC.

If your mind goes blank even as you try to take down notes though, I guess that won't work. Maybe picking keywords from your inner scenes works better?