Friday, February 15, 2013

Breakthrough!

Woot! Woot!

I've been waiting for this for a long time, and to me it's almost as good as a hot biscuit fresh from the oven.

I finally figured out a way to stay creative at work, despite my exhaustion from working in a factory. (Sorry if I keep repeating myself about the factory. It's really created a bottle neck as far as time and energy for the rest of life.)

Some aspects of my job are very routine, almost like milking cows. Same thing over and over. I just have to keep moving. That gives me some big chunks of time to day-dream about my stories.

I started a new project about the time I discovered the "notes" feature of my cell-phone actually has a lot of space.

So, on breaks and at lunch, I've been writing myself notes about my latest story. If they are in my cell phone, they have to be concise, and they don't blend into the debris field of my purse like paper scraps would.

When I get home, I jot them down in the story document. I don't really have an outline or a snowflake, just a list of things to do in the story. I don't think this is going to change me from a seat-of-the-pants writer to an organized one, but it is helping me use my time.

The only issue is, what was I thinking? Here's an entry ..."Sofias gma n ggma dps, ggma a cook for army, overhears gi speaking dutch, is war bride." I think it is supposed to mean "Sofia's grandma and great-grandma are displaced persons after World War II. Great-grandma gets a job as a cook (?) (or doing laundry? Ask Pop) for Army, overhears a GI speaking Dutch, is war bride and they move to Michigan."

Anyway, I've been using my cell phone to capture a lot of ideas while they are fresh. I would love to hear other ideas for organizing stories.

See you after work!

8 comments:

  1. I was at a dining table at the Blue Ridge Writers Conference a couple years back when a very successful author pulled a recording device from her purse and spoke into it a quick couple ideas for her current project. It was fast and efficient!

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  2. Rick, that's kind of the idea, but I am a visual person and anything audio like that would go in one ear and out the other.

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  3. I call myself and leave messages on my phone if I'm in the car driving and can't write and I have an idea. And I always carry a notebook in my purse. :-) Way to go on finding those little pockets of time!

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  4. Ann,

    One more comment. Your remark of a fresh biscuit reminded me of having a fresh biscuit my wife fixed this week (I'm forgetting if it's Thursday or Friday). We had some Panera cream cheese on it, but she felt it was overdoing it. I didn't -- I was hungry!

    Jeff

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  5. I think that's a great idea Ann - whatever works for you. I have used a record before writing stories while I was walking. I already had the recorder for interviews I worked up for the newspaper. Last year I carried a notebook in my purse until I lost it. Don't have a cell so no high tech methods for me right now.

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  6. You all have some pretty good ideas there! Mary, I figured I was less likely to lose the cell phone than a notebook.

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  7. Great ideas, everyone. I have notebook/journals, but I'll consider using the notebook on my new phone, too--if I ever learn how.

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