You Won't Remember It Later

I have great woe for my stories that may have been. The ideas that were conceived right before sleeping where I was convinced that I'd remember it in the morning. The plot hole filler that occurred to me while I was waiting in the grocery checkout line. The funny quip that will never again be qupped because I told myself that I'd remember to write it down after finishing an episode of Ted Lasso.

Your phone is attached to you. Mine is to me. Pull that super computer out of your pocket and text that idea to yourself right away. 

I know, I know: you have a notes app already. I do too, friend. My favorite app and website to handle notes and chapters is Evernote.* They make it really simple and quick to jot down a thought and stay overly organized with chapter work.

But alas, my easily distractible brain will get sidetracked while thumbing through my phone. A text is quicker for my prefrontal cortex. Hell, I can hop right into a voice message for myself. Then, I can quickly get back to what I was doing, and the text is easily copiable to other apps later on. Maybe this will help you out. Maybe you have a method you could recommend to me. I'm all ears!

But, whatever you do, take my conclusion after many years of researching this fallacy: record it. You won't remember it later.

Readers want their flabbers to be gasted when it comes to the storytelling. They want their socks knocked off with the emotions your characters invoke. Readers need to be altered by a mere sentence of yours that sums up their entire struggle with something in a way that they finally feel set free. So you have to remember these ideas. Record them.

In a pinch, use eyeliner on an ankle to remember a plot hole filler,

Katherine Arkady

*not sponsored. But people of Evernote, if you're reading this... 👀 👀