Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Sometimes I Trust My Brain Too Much

The other night I had a good idea for something to add to the end of my story. Just one problem. I was already in my comfy, warm bed. So I thought, I'll just remember it. I do this all the time. Do I ever remember it? Of course not.

I'll admit it's very possible the idea wasn't that great. I did think of it as I was falling asleep. But I'll never know for sure, since I was too lazy to get up and write it down. One of these days, I'll buy some of these. Until then, I'm just going to have to find a way to make my brain work better.

Anybody else do this? Where do you think those ideas go? They're probably running free in some field somewhere and laughing at us. Jerks.

19 comments:

  1. Heck...at my age I'm lucky if I remember to wipe my butt afterwards. :) One reason why I carry a pocket digital recorder in my pocket...everywhere!

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  2. Is this Homer's brain?

    Anyway, I do remember sometimes what I was thinking in the middle of the night, but for some reason it's not as good in the light of day.

    You could keep a pad of paper by your bed!

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  3. This is happening to me a lot lately and it's driving me nuts!
    ~ Wendy

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  4. Do it ALL the time, ugh. I do my best writing in my head, as I'm falling asleep. And I almost never remember/write it down.

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  5. that stinks. i'm pretty good at remembering any ideas i come up with. And if i don't, i just assume it wasn't that great an idea

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  6. I do the same thing, and I can NEVER remember!!

    Love the pic!

    sf

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  7. I think the ideas leak out of our ears onto the pillows and then, well they're off to never, never land. And have you tried writing those brilliant ideas down in the middle of the night? Don't know about you, but I can never read what I've written. ;)

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  8. Oh, I WANT one of those pens!

    Now, what was your post about again? (Yes, I am easily distracted by the shiny.)

    Seriously, I hate when I think I'll remember a brilliant bedtime idea and then don't. You'd think I'd learn. But of course...I don't. ;)

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  9. I used to write things down, but my handwriting was almost impossible to read if I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea

    Luckily, my phone has a notes function, so I use that all the time now.

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  10. This is why I keep notebooks and binders by my bed at night. One notebook for poetry (should a poem strike in the night, sneaky little devils), one binder for my current WiP, and one binder for the project that is simmering and brewing up there.

    And a pen. I can flip on the bedside lamp and jot down whatever came to mind then go right back to curling up under the covers with minimal movement.

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  11. Oh, I can't trust my brain for anything. It's always forgetting ideas, especially at night. And while they may have been crap ideas, I always convince myself that they're genius and my book will never be the same w/o them.

    My solution: I keep my computer underneath my bed at night, for the times when I'm wired and can't think of anything else but writing. I also have a boring old notebook and a boring old, non-glow-in-the-dark pen, for when I want to jot down a sentence or two and look at it in the morning. What I've noticed, though, is if I don't flesh out the idea enough at night, when I look at my scribbled thoughts (usually done in the dark and barely legible), I think, "WTF?? Where was I going with this?" I do the same thing when I stop mid-sentence when I'm typing.

    If nothing else, it'll make for good humor when your wide awake :)

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  12. Yes, this happens to me all the time. And I do it on purpose. If the idea/words stay in my head, I know they're truly good. Otherwise, they disappear into nothing, where they belong. This is my philosophy, of course. :)

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  13. I don't know if that glow pen would work for me - it would still require me to actually sit up and write something down! I usually just assume that if an idea was good for me, it will stick around. Most of my ideas tend to, and if they've been around for a while, I'll jot down a little note somewhere to remind me in case I do forget.

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  14. Oh, I do it ALL THE TIME! But then for a while I kept a notebook by the side of my bed and I wrote ideas down. When I read them the next morning I realized they weren't as good as I thought they were.

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  15. That is so frustrating. Why can't we take notes when only half-conscious? if I could learn that trick it'd save me a lot of time...

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  16. My brain doesn't work too well that way, either. I've gone to Target twice now and not been able to remember what I needed. Finally I thought to write it down - with my glow pen. :)

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  17. I agree with Aubrie that in the light of day sometimes those ideas need more refinement. At least it's a start.

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  18. OH NO! I hate that, Abby :(. I keep a notebook by my bed after having the same thing happen a couple of times.

    However, sometimes I don't want to wake up my husband with the light, so I find crazy-person chicken scratches going diagonally over the page the next morning ;).

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