The Notebook

I have a short story contest deadline in a few days, and I have been wracking my brain trying to find a short enough idea for this 1250-word contest. I’m great with 10k words, but a piece that’s under 2,000 is tougher for me. (Hey, I talk a lot; I write a lot.) I’ve also been straightening up my office and my reading/writing nook in my bedroom. Last night, I flipped through one of my many idea notebooks and found the perfect short story for this contest.

As I read some of my story starts, ideas, and dreams in that notebook, it made me laugh and wonder. I started about ten or fifteen years ago to put a date on every idea or story start, so these notebooks have been almost like a timeline of my life. I read a story start from 2009, and I remembered not just what I was envisioning then, but what my life was like then. I remembered being in a certain place in my life, and that’s how this particular idea came to mind. It’s an idea notebook, but it’s also a memoir of my mental state. My very own mind diary.

It’s a wonderful and strange feeling reading these ideas months, sometimes years, after I wrote them. Some may never get past idea stage. Others, like this short story I found, may be used for much more.

Any other writers out there with idea notebooks? Share your feelings about them in the comments below!