Capturing an idea
Capturing an Idea
itting down to write before you have an idea is like deciding to run a marathon before you train. You might be able to finish, but your progress will be slow, painful, and exhausting. The empty page will turn into miles of empty pavement that will take hours to cross.
While it is possible to write “off the top of your head,” it is far easier to begin with an idea. Particularly brilliant ideas seem alive, carrying a story forward with their own energy, filling pages with little effort from the writer. Unfortunately, finding such an idea can be quite a challenge, especially if you look in the wrong place. Ideas are not rabbits, and a blank page is not a magician’s hat. You cannot expect to simply pluck an idea from empty space. Ideas exist in the world, both in the physical world and in creative works.