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A tip from me to you

"Hey...I got a cool idea for a story, but no time to write it. I'll just jot it down on this liquor store receipt and tape it over here..." I've done this too many times to count and those receipts pile up as do the scraps of paper. I always think I'll just sit down some Saturday with a mug of cocoa, listen to some chill music and organize them in a file on my computer. I've been saying that since 1998. Seriously.

Last night I took a 4 inch stack of story ideas and longhand stories and started typing them up. After the tenth file was saved, I wanted to cry. There's so much I could have been working on all these years but instead, they've just been languishing in a pile. And there's still more to type up.

I offer you my advice: Take the few minutes when an idea hits you (or as soon as possible) and create a file on your computer or flashdrive of choice (mine is currently an adorable Hello Kitty model that looks like me) and type it up! Save it! Back it up! Finish writing it! Edit it! Submit it!

Excuse me while I get back to the stack.

Note: Yes, I tried conquering The Stack before. I didn't get far. 


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Comments

  1. UnknownApril 18, 2014 at 7:39 AM

    That's a lot of liquor receipts!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 23, 2014 at 8:09 AM

    Won't comment on the receipts... :) Unfortunately, sometimes I don't even get to write my ideas down, because I tend to let something else get in the way and then I forget. I don't even want to think about how many ideas I lost that way. But at the same time, I did have an idea driving home last night, and I didn't write it down, and I only just remembered it when I read this blog. So NOW I will write the bastard down....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Carey BurnsApril 28, 2014 at 6:43 PM

    Yes, Unknown...I have quite a collection of receipts... LOL

    Glad I could jog your memory, Ray! Lost ideas are the worst. I wonder if they get stuck in socks in the dryer?

    ReplyDelete

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