Ideas

It's a cold, wet, wintry Melbourne day. Apparently the weather hasn't been told that today is actually the first day of spring; it didn't receive that memo.

This does make it the perfect day for one thing: a quiet day writing. I sit down with a cup of soup and my laptop, fingers at the ready on the keyboard.

Right. I'm ready. Come on, ideas, blow me away with your brilliance.

Nothing. For perhaps the first time ever, my mind is blank. Just when I wanted a million thoughts to flow through it, they've taken off - maybe north, having given up on the promise of warmer weather here in this state. That's odd. Not to worry, I'll start with a warm up - a blog post. I've always got something to say on my blog.

I begin typing. My rambling thoughts begin to flow. And... bang! There it is. An idea. Not just any idea, but one that will solve the problem I was having with a manuscript. The next step in a story I've been slowly writing for months, that I think has potential but hit a wall.

Abandon blog post. Write story ideas while they're fresh in my mind.

Another day, another situation. I have a word floating around my head - elephant. But I'm not thinking of the elephant right now. I'm out driving with my husband and daughter in search of bathroom accessories.

I'm thinking about taps, vanities, showers, and discussing the pros and cons of different options with my husband.

We drive past a bus stop and there it is - an elephant standing there, waiting for a bus; a boy standing next to him, scared stiff. It's him. That's the elephant in my new story. He doesn't know why the boy is looking frightened, and it hasn't occurred to him that he won't actually fit on a bus.

From that moment, I'm itching to get home.

I don't even have my note pad with me. I assure myself that if it's a good idea, it will stay in my head and wait - not as it is, but growing and growing (the elephant is holding a pot of paint and a bag full of shopping) - until I can write it down.

Ideas are very random - they tend to strike when you least expect.


Megan