Wham! A great writing idea hits you. You jot down some notes, but are interrupted by some critical thing. Dog, cat, teenager, laundry, sleep….you know, important stuff. Any writers out there know the feeling. Upon returning to your notes, you realize you’ve lost it.

The Beard bought me a voice recorder. It sits on my bedside table. I think I’ve used it once or twice. In fact, I better go check it for story ideas. I’ve written two or three-word reminders which upon later scrutiny ends up being gobbledygook. Writing the bones of a story idea in the middle of the night results in sleepless mulling. Even if I accept the loss of sleep, other stories try to crowd into the space. It’s a dilemma.

This week I awoke with a great story idea. At least, it seemed like a great idea at three in the morning. I grabbed the phone and tapped my thumbs double time. Character list, the basic plot, the opening scene, and sort of a title….all saved on my sticky note app. Looking over my notes today, I’ve got nothing. I can’t call to mind the overarching concept tying the scattershot together.

This is incredibly frustrating. An abundance of ideas and not enough time to devote to developing them….wah, wah, wah, what a terrible problem to have as a writer. It seems a huge waste of creativity. I experience the same feeling when walking into the laundry room for something and forgetting why I went there five times in a row. Argh!

I also love to write, so I see these lost ideas as opportunities lost. Granted, I’m less than ten chapters from finishing a sequel. I’m sorting through editor notes on a rewrite. I have three other novels started and a full outline of a fourth. It all boils down to time.

In high school, I planned on being a novelist. I imagined, at the time, living in a little two bedroom cottage single without children.

I still believe a garden shed or container office would remove me from my commotion filled domicile. No matter how many pins I place for the Beard, he doesn’t seem to keen on starting construction anytime soon. Of course, it’ll have retinal scan door locks.

Time and a clear head. Time, a clear head, a clean house, and no teenagers asking what’s for dinner. Time, a clear head, no teenagers asking what’s for dinner, and a good idea.