How to Capture Those Creative Moments

Writers are constantly on the search for things to write about and many of our day to day activities can spark that creative process. Unfortunately those creative sparks can occur at any moment and if you’re anything like me, you won’t have the time there and then to flesh that idea out into a fully fledged post, article or e-book.

So what can we do?

Stop What You’re Doing. Write it Down

Well the best advice I’ve ever put into practice is when an idea comes, write it down. To elaborate, here’s how I do it.

If I’m at the computer I will log into my blog and start a new post. I’ll usually throw in a quick title safe in the knowledge that WordPress allows you to later edit the entire thing. I will then quickly type out the ideas I have in my head, pouring them out with complete disregard to spelling, grammar and even continuity or flow!

At first this was very difficult for me to do. I am a bit of a stickler for grammar and spelling and it’s very easy to just right-click a word and correct its spelling. The idea is to get things down, stored safely before your mind forgets them or some interruption takes your focus elsewhere.

This is what I call my rough draft a very important, if not the most important part. Later on I will revisit the post (which WordPress kindly saves as a draft) and generally edit it, expand on it and finally format it for publication.

Darn it, I Left my Computer in my Other Pants!

There are times however when I’m not near my computer in which case I always keep a notepad and a pen handy. No matter where I am or what I am doing, if a thought or an idea occurs to me I’ll be able to note it down. Again I just write down the core idea and the first few thoughts I have. I’ll expand on it later usually when I am next at the computer.

What I find is that whatever I write down rekindles the spark I had (at a later date) so that I may continue to expand on the idea or to remind me to write on a particular subject. Sometimes an article will never see the light of day instead parts of it go to form other articles. This is why I prefer not to delete any draft posts and why it is important to write your thoughts down regardless of what you may think of it at the time.

An Added Bonus

This process has also served to build up a number of posts I can keep in reserve for when the dreaded writer’s block strikes. It even helps me to write posts in advance and schedule them for later posting rather than try to write something at the last minute.

So that’s what I have found works for me, how about you? How do you go about capturing your ideas? What have you found to help you with your writing process?

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