Note to self: always write down the interesting things as
soon as you hear or think them.History drawls a veil over exactly when I started to do this: I should have wrote it down, that moment I first put pen to paper knowing I would otherwise forget that witticism, perfect line, cunning plot, great title, cracking dialogue.
So I never go anywhere without a notebook, and if you want to be a writer, neither should you. My most recent acquisition is this fab personalised one from The Dog's Doodahs.
Some people complain I am 'stealing their ideas'. These are usually people who will never do anything useful with the ideas they have, and ideas that are doomed to die young and unfulfilled. Plagiarism? No? It's a Public Service!
You have to be careful, occasionally I don't write enough and just find random words staring back at me that mean nothing:
the Darth Vader of fairies
synchronise your mothers
regurgitated garnishes from previous incumbents
Apostrophe wife
fake town?
I still keep notebooks, especially for journeys, but some are too lovely to use. And now I jot ideas on my phone or iPad, too, ready to transpose into a Word document... which now runs to over 70 pages. You do the math.
Then be afraid.
Do you make notes?
