Where oh where did that little idea go?

Have you ever counted how many ideas you’ve had in a day, week, month, or year?  Maybe you’re not quite sure exactly how many ideas you’ve had at any given time because you had no way of keeping track of them.  We get them all the time—while we’re lying in bed at night and waiting for sleep to grace us with its presence, while we watch our favorite TV show, and even when we’re stuck in the 405 traffic nightmare.

In the past, when I used to get ideas (whether they be for stories or for inventions), I’d seem to get them at the most inopportune time—driving … always while driving.  In any event, I may have remembered I had said idea once I parked and got out of the car, but because work was vying for much of my brain capacity, I ended up telling myself that I wouldn’t do anything with the idea anyway and I should just forget about it.

I look back on that attitude and say, “What. The. Fuck.”  If I could go back in time and slap myself, I would.  But, no one has invented time travel (that I’m aware of), so instead I changed the way I dealt with ideas.  I actually took the time to write them down even if I don’t know what to do with them yet or have the time to dedicate to bringing them to fruition.  Because I don’t carry around a pen and paper everywhere I go, I use the note function on my phone.  I often get the best ideas for new books when I’m doing things other than writing:  sleeping (dreams are awesome for new book ideas!), watching TV, cleaning, you get the point.

I digress … where I’m going with this is to say that no matter who, what, why, where, or when, you should always write your ideas down.  Even if you don’t think you have time to deal with them or put them to action.  You might and you should write them down to remind yourself that you thought of that idea in hopes of taking some action sometime in the future.  

Back in 2011, when we were test driving our new Toyota Tundra, I remember sitting in the backseat and watching the Nav screen while Bryan drove.  As we travelled down the road, points of interest popped up such as gas stations or places to eat.  I was still working at Expedia and the company was working on mobile apps (among other things) for booking travel.  I remember thinking how great it would be if Expedia was able to contract with a company like Toyota to incorporate a booking engine in conjunction with the Nav system so you could search up hotels or activities nearby to book through the Nav on your way there.

That was 2011.  Although I thought about the idea from time-to-time, I didn’t write it down and it never went anywhere.  Fast forward to present day where I’ve recently traded in my 2008 Toyota Highlander for a 2015 model.  We’re checking out all the features and guess what?  You can voice request the nearest Starbucks, or Hyatt Hotel, or whatever and it shows up on the Nav.  I’m sure there’s Internet access on there, too.  Many cars have all these things that now tie into your phone’s network to go online (think:  Facebook, Pandora, you name it) and I’m sure there are some cars out there that already have apps that allow you to book travel (they have an app to book a restaurant reservation, so why not a hotel?).

So, the moral of the story is this:  write that shit down.  As soon as possible.  Post it in a prominent place where you’ll see it every damn day because it will serve as a reminder that you need to get off your ass and do something with that idea.  If you don’t, you’ll be like me … kicking myself for not exploring a really great idea.  Don’t be like  “this” me.

One step away from the banned book list?

I’m an author because I love to write and to share stories with my readers.  When I first ventured into this creative world, I didn’t want to be limited in what my stories included.  I wanted to write without fear of being censored … I wanted to write about things that happen in real life … I wanted to include situations in my stories that people could relate to.

Apparently, though, if you do this, you have an opportunity to be turned away from a seller because of what they consider “questionable or prohibited content.”  You might even find yourself landing on the “banned book list” simply because you chose to be yourself in your writing and to share your creativity in the way that mattered to you.

This recently happened to me:  a company that shall remain un-named refused to sell my second book on their site because they felt it contained prohibited content.  Aside from the fact they aren’t consistently applying this lens to all the items on their site, it’s frustrating that I’ve worked so hard on a story only to have it not available to my readers through a popular medium.  What happens when my readers look me up and only find books one and three there.  Do they wonder where the heck book two is?  Do they think I just didn’t write the second book and the story skips from freshman year straight to junior year?

I understand that companies have the right to refuse what they sell on their sites.  Fine.  If that’s the case, then be consistent.  What I don’t understand is the bigger picture of why prohibited or questionable content is even an issue?  It’s almost like we’re living in the 1950s again and topics like nudity and sex are a subject that people would rather keep locked behind closed doors.  

Come on, Corporate America.  You’re more mature than that.  Get with the program and understand that what you consider “prohibited or questionable content” happens on a daily basis in this fine country of ours.  Why would we want to shroud it in darkness and push it off the shelves and lock it up in the “do not touch” wall safe?  I have a novel idea…slap a sticker on it that it contains adult  themes and let the general public choose whether or not they want to buy and/or read it!  You do that with music, so why not books?  

Until this organization is able to bring its thinking into the 21^st century, you can still find my second book at those retailers that do support creativity such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.  Yay for some companies that still believe an author’s creativity shouldn’t be censored or put on a “do not touch” shelf!