At the end of each of our sessions, I’ve gotten into the habit of asking Jon questions that don’t relate directly to the project we’re working on: questions about inspiration, process and the life of a writer. At one point I said something like, “I know I had more questions, but now I can’t remember them.” Jon gave some very simple, commonsensical advice that applies not only to questions but also to character ideas, jokes, concepts and storylines: write it down. “I carry a notepad in my car,” Jon said. It sounds like a great idea. When I was in LA over winter break I bought a tiny notebook in Little Tokyo that boasted, “Premium Paper Quality: Best Writing Features,” but now I can’t find it. I had planned to (and did for a week) carry it on my person and record every brilliant little spark of inspiration I divined or encountered during my day. Ideas, interesting images and bits of dialogue all went in. But after losing my Japanese recorder I went without a replacement until my conversation with Jon. Since talking with him I’ve been employing a blue diary in its place, one my girlfriend got when she was in Argentina. (Apparently I can only use foreign-made notebooks.) It’s a bit bigger than my petite Japanese friend—too big to carry in my pocket but the perfect size to toss in a backpack. Like a trusty assistant, it sits next to me on the dining room table as I work during the day. Whenever something strikes me, I peel back the cover and jot it on a crisp, white page. (Despite the incumbent’s advertisement, I think this new diary has better writing features.) Now I have a place to store those fleeting questions and spontaneous ideas.
To read some of them, see my next post, “Little Blue Book Cont’d.”