Recording Your Creative Writing Ideas

Have you ever had a story idea in the shower or during the drive home? Well, there is a reason for that. According to a study lead by Benjamin Baird and Jonathan Schooler of the University of California, Santa Barbara's META Lab, mindless tasks boost the possibility of coming up with creative solutions¹. Basically, creative thinking is powered by the brain's back burner.

But if you are like me, the bright idea comes hot off the back burner, so you have to be ready to handle it or it might just fizzle away. Notebooks are great ways to capture fast ideas, but try hopping out of the shower to record an idea flash and you might end up flashing someone instead. And try writing while driving and you will end up with gibberish at best or a ticket for reckless driving at worst.

So, what is the best solution? Well, for driving, it is voice recorder. They come in many different flavors for all of your mindless tasks.

• There are voice recorders with a light attached (in case you are working in the dark).
• There are voice recorders that stick on your fridge (for when you are in the middle of defrosting).
• There are voice recorder apps for your phone (for when you are mindlessly surfing the Internet).

But I do not see one that is waterproof.

For the shower, you might want to try something less electronic: Aqua Notes. While searching for waterproof voice recorders, I spotted this product, and I thought, What a great idea! Wonder if the creator came up with that idea in the shower.

So, there you go. Next time you have a story working on the brain's back burner, try performing some mindless task to help it along. Just do not forget to have your voice recorder--or Aqua Notes--handy!

<sub>Cites:
1. Jacobs, Tom. "Creativity of the Wandering Mind." Pacific Standard. Pacific Standard, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2012.</sub>