Amy Sue Nathan

Damn those new ideas

How many ideas can we have floating around in our head at the same time? Has anyone ever counted? Do yours pile up neatly like Lego blocks all snapped together or is it more like a game of Pick-Up sticks?

All I know is that if I don’t write mine down, I lose them.

My latest set of ideas has to do with a brand new book and I’ve been stockpiling them for months. I know, I know! I haven’t finished the first book yet, but here I am jotting down notes for characters who don’t even have a place to call home. I did get a little attention in a a prizeless contest for the best first line of a novel. I didn’t win the no-prize, but the judges were interested, and that’s what keeps me going. My character has weight before I’ve even decided on her body type. She has intrigue before I know if she is good at first, or if she becomes good. I know that she’s smart, I know that she is bewildered and searching, but why and for what? Oh, not so much of that is very clear.

Here is what I do know about my next book, so far:

Siobhan Watkins told them she was white, but they didn’t believe her until the moment she strode through the automatic sliding glass doors and announced her arrival.

What do you do with new ideas? Do you stockpile or do you act on the ideas, writing scenes or even chapters? Where do you keep the new stuff — in a notebook, in a Word file, or the back of a napkin? How do you label them?

My Word doc for new book ideas is labeled “New Book Ideas.”

I know, my creative genius is a little intimidating.