Creative Thinking: Tip 2

I bought myself a new toy the other day. I say toy, but in reality, it’s my freedom from the reproducing quantities of scrap paper that litter my home. For the last few years, I have taken down every epiphany I’ve had, problems I needed to solve, errands I’ve needed to run, and bills I’ve needed to pay. Because of it, there’s paper everywhere. Have you ever seen those Dell (or was it IBM) commercials where the servers reproduced like rabbits while spooky music played in the background? That was happening to me, except on a cheaper and lighter level. Now I’m recording my thoughts and creative writing ideas on a simple, lightweight digital recorder, without the hassle of paper (while being more environmentally friendly as well).

That’s all fine and dandy, Vic, but how can taking down notes help with creative thinking, or my writing?

I can think of two good reasons why taking notes (or recording them) can assist you with creative thinking, as well as writing:

Reason 1:
Taking down your ideas whenever they come to you allows your mind to condition itself to think freely, knowing the ideas will be saved, and freeing your mind to come up with as many ideas as possible without the worries of remembering them all.

In my case, there’s very little delay between the time my idea is generated, to clicking the recording button on my recorder, recording my message, and turning it off. I’m not worrying about whether I’ll forget it or remember all of the details tomorrow. It’s there and the recorder is waiting for my next idea. When I have more free time, I’ll go over my notes and ponder on them some more.

Reason 2:
You can use your collection of stored ideas as your own personal “idea bank.” What? Try this:

Take all of your ideas that you come up with (on paper for this example) and find an old shoebox that isn’t being used anymore. Put all of your scrap pieces of paper or other notes into the box. When you’re in need of an idea, pull two or three out at a time and see what kinds of ideas might be formulated from this combination. If it doesn’t work, go back and try again.

As writers, this method can be very helpful for us. Instead of general ideas, keep a shoebox full of plot ideas, or character ideas, etc. When you’re in need of a plot, for instance, pull a few of these written ideas out and see what you can come up with. Think of it as your idea-generation machine.

That’s it for this post. Paper or digital recorder, however you choose to take notes and record your ideas, just do it! You’ll be thankful you did when that idea (or combination of ideas) blossoms into something magnificent.