Writing on the Wall

By Nichole Giles

Not long ago, I made an important discovery. I am truly a writer. I know this because I finally dreamed an entire plot from start to finish. I’ve probably dreamed plots before, but until I started writing, I never thought to write them down.

This time I knew. Jumping out of bed, I grabbed a pen and my trusty notebook, and scribbled furiously until I had three pages of chicken-scratched notes. I kept my notebook handy as I brushed my teeth and put on my makeup, and every two or three minutes, I’d add another thought, idea, or memory to these pages.

Later that day, when I had time to boot up my laptop, I created a file for this dream idea—complete with title—and wrote a more in-depth summary of the things I had dreamed.

That day, I was grateful to have my notebook and a pen near my bed. It saved me what might have been a great deal of sadness over a lost story.

In a recent blog, Connie Hall wondered about the solution for writers whose best ideas regularly occur when they are in the shower or otherwise indisposed. In our discussion about this topic, I came up with a few suggestions:

1. Have your spouse sit outside your shower curtain/door with your notebook, taking notes while you soap up.
2. Be the first to invent a waterproof digital recorder that sticks to your shower wall.
3. Keep a supply of washable markers in your soap dish. When an idea strikes, the shower wall becomes your blank page.

These suggestions are designed to preserve your ideas as they occur. Remember to transfer your idea to paper as soon as you are dry. Just don’t tell your kids you’ve developed a habit of writing on the shower wall.

Now, if only I could think of a way to make time last longer…