Look after your Dust Bunnies

Every writer has their own dust bunnies; those little bits and pieces of stories, perhaps a character or two, which are stored at the back of the mind to slowly gather dust. It's a good idea to keep track of you dust bunnies before they decide to up and leave: you never know when you might be able to use them.

We all know the drill: we have an idea but can't use it at the time so we vow to remember it to use it in a future story but honestly, what are the chances of this happening? As humans, we're not perfect and it's almost guaranteed that by vowing to remember something, we are condemning ourselves to forgetfulness.

I can recall so many times when I have a distant memory of an amazing idea but I never made a note of it: I now always carry my phone and a pocket-sized notebook. The six or seven pens in my pocket and further, ooh, around forty in my bag, go without mentioning.

Dust bunnies are irritating little things: they will linger in your mind forever, taunting you with their presence but then the day comes when you must call upon them. You’re proud of yourself for finding them a place to slot in but – disaster! – your bunnies have done a runner!

Who knows, that idea could have been the next Shakespeare but it’s lost to an eternity of floating in the ethers of your brain. It’s but a vacant memory to you now, as useless as a chocolate teapot.

Don’t stop at writing – I’ve been known to draw scenes on any surface possible. By no means am I a skilled artist but whatever helps, helps.

Do you have any methods for remembering your bunnies? What do you do when you’re full of ideas but there isn’t a pen or phone in sight? Comment below!

Lydia