Keeping a Journal

During your lifetime of writing it becomes increasingly difficult to keep all of your ideas organized. Trust me, it does. You, as a writer, may have a good memory now and great focus but as soon as you start a job or writing professionally you'll soon find yourself going from one project to another can be rather difficult for the creative part of the brain to handle. That focus and great memory that so many writer boast of all the time begins to become stressed and busy. It happens to everyone.

See, the writing you do as a professional needs to be seamless and clear for each individual project that you take on. However, the stories that you want to write on your own time can become burdensome without some place to store the thoughts and ideas while you're busy with other things that life throws your way. Get used to jotting down ideas about plot, character, places, objects, and lore. This helps the writer find a way to process what's taking shape progressively and at their own pace. Doing this gives the writer a sense of ease. It allows the mind to think freely and without worry of losing context or ideas. In the literature world losing such things as context and ideas can be a critical failure.

If you are a writer give it a try. Start a journal. Life is not going to slow down and it helps to have a system. Think of it as a file system. If you come across something for a book you want to write, such as a plot heavy idea, write it down in a journal. Get in the habit of doing it. Make it a necessity. I stress my point because I know what it is like to lose a groundbreaking idea for something that is in the process of being written. It is maddening to know that the idea you had may never come back.

Honestly, it will save you time and stress. The less you have to keep mulling over a concept and trying to fixate on that one thing as not to forget it, the better for your brain. The brain itself is a muscle. As you know all muscles get worn out and strained. Muscles need breaks. So do your brain a favor and give it a break. Write those ideas down and record them for later use.