As a writer I find myself constantly thinking up little snippets of stories that sometimes turn into ideas for books or series. Normally I just let them free-float in my mind, coming in and out of the forefront of my thoughts. However I’m sadly unable to keep track of all the threads, especially when I’m deeply involved in writing about another set of characters and the world they inhabit, so today I took half an hour to write some of them down in a document. Nothing fancy, just notes on the genre, age range (I have everything from middle-grade fantasy to literary fiction) and whether it’s a standalone book or a series. Then a few bullet points on the basic plot. Easy to add to as new things come to mind, easy to look at sometime in the future and start building an outline around.
I don’t have any intention of starting on these stories for quite some time. After I’m done the trilogy I’m currently working on, I have another story, which may or may not turn out to be a series, that I plan on tackling. Maybe these ideas I jotted down today will never see the light of day, or maybe I’ll toil over them for months, only to shelve them as learning experiences, but at least they won’t disappear down the drain after swirling around in the sieve that is my brain.