How do you......?

Today I'm asking the question "How Do You Write An Initial Idea?"

What I'm wondering is if you happen to be sitting/standing somewhere and BOOM an idea slams into you like a buggy in the Walmart parking lot. 

I'm usually nowhere near my laptop or a notepad when this occurs, like in the shower or when driving. I do keep a slip of paper in the console so I can grab the pen and jot it down in between red lights but that is the most that I can do. But when you get this idea, do you typically write down the idea and then go back later to flesh it out? Do you pencil out a skeleton outline, get a white board with rainbow markers, or do you start a spreadsheet (like Save the Cat)?

As I'm primarily a pantser, I get a few key words either onto my phone notes or on a receipt, then flesh it out when I have a few uninterrupted minutes. (Insert hysterical laughter here). Some of my ideas come to me in scenes, witty one liners (aka hook lines), or in full blown Dorothy in Oz color. I have better luck getting ideas when I'm being more positive with life issues or if I'm forcing myself to meditate for a session or twelve. (Sometimes three isn't the magic number.) 

Recently, I was driving to work and got one idea so I penned a few main words before I added weight to it in my mind the rest of the way in. I was ten minutes early for work so I had the time it took to get a couple of scanty paragraphs into my phone's notepad for when I had downtime. The next day, I got another flash that was similar to the day before but could be flipped to be two different stories that had a chance of being a series. (where each person gets a story) This was amazing as it was out of the norm for me. Norm??? Yes, the setting on my washing machine. (Haha)

I have friends who push to get ideas out all at one time but others let it gain momentum over a few weeks. I go with what the story dictates. Say that the story starts with a scene and by the time I get to a long red light, it has grown into a few chapters...I jot down what all is included so I don't forget anything when I get to my destination. I probably have six slips of paper in the console right now with these gems saved on them. It's a way of getting them out before I get stuck in traffic or get sidetracked by another errand that needs to be run. Yes, I can be random.

What do you guys do? Do you wait until it's meatier to get it on paper/Word or do you go with what your muse feeds to you? How does the process start for you?  

)))Corset Hugs(((

Ginny Lynn

Wench Writer