Capture Your Ideas

Exploring the tricky art of how writers can capture and keep track of their ideas.

This article first appeared in the September 2023 issue of Writing Magazine.

Writing Magazine — September 2023

I once woke in the middle of the night with an idea for a new cosy crime novel. Realising how important this was, I grabbed the notebook and pen I keep on my bedside table for this exact purpose and scribbled away. I was so keen to get the idea down on paper I didn’t bother putting on the bedside light. When I’d finished writing, I settled back to sleep, smug in the knowledge that I had captured my brilliant idea.

When I awoke the following morning, I remembered I’d had an idea, but I couldn’t recall what it was. So I found my notebook and turned to the page in question to find. . .

Well, it wasn’t a great idea. In fact, there were no recognisable words at all. All I could make out on the page was an indeterminable scribble. I panicked and flicked through the pages. Had I written it somewhere else? Eventually, realisation dawned. That scribble was what I’d written in the dark last night. The idea was gone. Forever.

As writers, we always need ideas because our writing business is nothing without them. But we don’t just need to have ideas. We also need a reliable system of capturing, storing, and…