Stop me if the sounds familiar

People groan when you say, "Hey, I just had a great idea! So what if..."

Like, these are important people in your life, know what I mean? You would hope for more patience. But I guess you've already worn it down to nothing. And then they tell you to just sit down and write the stuff already. So you do. Or try. When you get to the computer, though, the blank white wall of empty screen looks pretty much exactly like the blankness in your brain.

I just don't know where the ideas go. I suspect that when they see "Microsoft Word" on the screen they flee into the corners of my mind like roaches when you hit the light switch. I could sit and face a computer screen for hours without an idea surfacing.

Anybody else have this problem? What have you done about it? Does anything work?

Try a less targeted environment. I have less trouble to make the ideas surface from my brain when I go to eg.: do some chores or feed the cat. Just remember to bring up a notepad and a pen with you, because ideas like to play Nintendo Hard stealth. Once you have a couple written down on your own handwriting and style, which carries information of its own, you should have far less trouble to bring them up again before whatever word processor.

I run into that problem once every two days. Scratch that, make it once every day.

My solution was mostly to describe something "fun" in the given context and develop from that point. The most important thing was to start writing; after that, the words would flow themselves.

For instance, this is how I started today's writing session.

I found that funny. And from that point, inspiration would normally take care of itself.

Nintendo Hard. Heh!

I think I understand what you mean by a "less targeted approach." As in, you don't sit down to write anything specific? You just type the first thing that enters your mind?

I do have that problem—I have all these wonderful ideas about the future of my Naruto fic, but writing the present defeats me. As it is, I tend to get to it by designating some time to write in, and when that time comes, just write, force it out no matter how crappy I think it is, and it'll start flowing more easily. Heck, even a lot of the time I come back to what I forced out in a more objective mood and don't even think it's that bad.

Yeah, I have that problem, too. I'll just be chillin' somewhere, and then suddenly, a wild idea appears and runs through all sorts of Lucas-level epicness. Then I go to write it down and my brain says, "Oh you wanted me to remember that?" and I'm like "Yeah, that's why you thought of it, right?" and then my brain's like "Well, I worked so hard creating it, I thought we'd go dutch on the process and you'd remember it." And I'm like "You're the brain. I can't remember without you. Now, what did you just think of?" And my brain's like "......... Turkey?" and then I'm like "Dammit."

I don't really have any strategies to combat this other than just trying to piece together those past thoughts in bullet points. Usually, seeing a shell of the thoughts fills in the parts I can't remember. Sometimes, with even better stuff.

I keep an old TI-83 for this purpose. Because you can type on it. (No really.)