Hijacking the Idea Cube: A Brief (Sticky) Note About Creativity

My wife can have a ream of blank printer paper sitting next to her and instead of using a single sheet to write down our new car insurance policy number or take a message or whatever she’s doodling, she’ll find the tiniest scrap of paper and then fill every inch of it with indiscernible scribble scratch.

I have literally never seen anything like it. I’ve tried everything to curb her of that habit. I’ve bought her sticky note pads (too sticky), cute little spiral bound notebooks (too cute and spiral, which annoy because she’s left-handed), little diaries (too fancy to use), funky journals (too funky), nothing works.

So not long ago when I was early for a client meeting, I wandered around a Walgreens next to the restaurant and found this message cube. It’s like a little cardboard box with sticky note size sheets of paper stacked inside of it, but without the “sticky” part. I thought, “Perfect,” bought it, had the meeting, brought it home, put it on my wife’s desk and… nothing.

I still see postage stamp size sheets of scrap paper full of scribbling next to her purse. But… lately I’ve been hijacking her message cube to scribble my own ideas on.

I’ve never really been one of those writing workshop, story starter software, suggestion box types. But, I have to say, when I hijacked my wife’s message cube, I became a convert with the quickness.

Now every time I think of a story idea or a freebie poem or a good mash up, like vampires versus zombies versus ghosts or something, boom, onto a sheet from the “idea cube” it goes. (Or, at least, that’s what I call it.)

 

I have a little container I put them in, like a miniature file cabinet drawer, and whenever I’m stumped for an idea, have some free time (ha!) or just need a new freebie zombie poem or story idea to help promote Zombies Don’t Cry, I reach into it, blindly, grab a sheet of paper and generally find something cool, creative or at least interesting to write about.

I don’t know why I ever tried it before! So, what do you use to catch those flashes of inspiration and how well does it work? Looking forward to hearing all about your great ideas and inspirations…

Yours in YA,

Rusty