I Caught a Fish and It Was THIIIIIIIS Big! (or Write Down That Inspiration While It's Hot!)

I had the BEST, the BESTEST idea for a blog post yesterday. Oh it was so good! It was the humdinger to end all humdingers.

This genius thought lit up my head like in the cartoons, with the bulb flashing, and I said, "Oh my gradness goocious, that is such a marvelous concept, such a great line, that there is no way in a million years that I will forget it. Let me just go and feed the kids/get the groceries/make that phone call and I will get right back to that idea and write it up."

Flash forward to a couple of days later. I have no idea what that brilliant idea was. Not the slightest clue. I never got back to my computer that day, and by the time I did, the only thing I could remember about said idea was where I was standing when it popped into my head. (In the kitchen between the table and the window, if you were wondering.)

Today's lesson: When those flashes of inspiration hit you, for goodness sake, write them down! You don't have to stop what you are doing that minute to create a masterpiece, but do take the time to grab a piece of paper and jot down the little gem. Whatever it will take to jog your memory when you have time later, a word, a line, a little sketch, a list of questions, that perfect title. JUST. WRITE. IT. DOWN.

Better yet, set up a system for yourself that allows you to easily note those explosions of thought. Carry a tiny notebook in your pocket. Get one of those gadgets that can record your voice at the touch of a button. Maybe there's a spot on your PDA. Maybe a series of white boards all through out your house where you can write it out with a dry erase marker. Really, it can be any way, whatever works for you. The only important qualities are that your system has to be always available, you have to be able to find the ideas again, and you have to actually use it.

When I was a waitress, I used to write my ideas down on check dupes and cocktail napkins and then stuff them in my apron. That worked pretty well, as long as I stapled them together at the end of the night. When I was a teacher, I always had a journal wherever I went that was my note keeper. Now that I am a mom and spending more time running around after squealing (with glee, with tantrums, with monsterness) children, I'll have to find a new system that can even come with me to bath time, or walks around the block.

What do you do to capture those ideas that flash through your mind and are all too swiftly lost?