Gathering Ideas and Keeping A Journal

Before you begin your journey in learning how to write Suspense, Detective Fiction, and Thrillers, you need to have a notebook, note cards, or some other method that you can carry with you to record your ideas.

Gathering Ideas

If you are out shopping, you might overhear a conversation about a particular incident that sparks your imagination. You might hear a comment that someone makes to another person that would be great for an idea or something you would like a character in your story to say to someone else. You might hear an unusual name that you would like to name a character.

I also teach piano. Sometimes, I've had an idea come to me when I was teaching a piano student. Since I had my notebook, I was able to write it down quickly and continue teaching.

One idea that I came up with is teaching a piano student. One week I started a new piano student, and the next week something was different about the student. I became to feel uncomfortable. Later, I found out he was an identical twin.

This idea came to me as a result of teaching one of my piano students. The first week I had him, he had long hair. The second week, his hair was cut really short. I felt like I was teaching a different student. That's when the idea came to me about teaching identical twins and not knowing it.

Keeping Track Of Your Ideas

What would you do if you didn't have a pen, pencil, or a notebook? How would you write down your ideas? If you always carry a notebook and a pen with you, then you won't have to rely on your memory. Sometimes, people may forget the ideas that spark their imagination because of their daily activities. Life becomes so hectic at times, that it's easy to forget things.

Sometimes I keep a notebook or post-it notes and a pen beside my bed so I can write down ideas that come to me in the night. If I wait until morning, I may forget what I thought about in the night.

I have a medium size spiral notebook that has three sections. I use one section to write down ideas, another section to write down my thoughts from the short stories or books that I read, and the last section I may start an outline for a short story or book.

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