Bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole' boys drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this will be the day that I die...
I love this song. I don't mind if it replays in my mind all day. Other songs, I wish they'd leave my brain. Like the Barney song ("I love you, you love me"), or The Map song from Dora the Explorer ("If there's a place you wanna go, I'm the one you need to know").
Like songs, ideas ping in my head. So many ideas for fiction and nonfiction that I'm sure I'll never be able to write about them all. But I don't want to let those ideas fly out the window while I'm driving. What if I forget it later? What if that idea is "the one?"
I trap those ideas before they escape. I have a large 3-ring binder with several dividers. I've created sections for nonfiction, fiction, characters, setting, sensory details, etc. I have notebook paper scattered throughout my house, and I write the ideas down when they come to me. Then I file them away for future use.
How do you catch your ideas before they disappear? And what songs attach themselves to your brain like mold, refusing to let go?
I wanted to share some good news: I just received an acceptance from Highlights magazine! After many rejections, it was exciting to see an envelope with "contract" stamped on the outside.
photo credit: flickr