I have a bad memory.
It’s quite frustrating to be a writer and to forget things all the time. I’m not talking little things like what a character’s eye colour. I’m talking about BIG things like forgetting the plot, changing character dynamics because you can’t remember who is friends or enemies, or even tying up plot holes TWICE because you forgot it the first time.
Do you feel my pain?! DO YOU?
I have an epic fantasy I’ve been working on for 5 years. It’s basically my baby. But each time I edit it, I change things massively…which means, five years down the track, I can’t remember what I’ve kept and what I’ve changed. You’d think it’d be engrained in my skull right?
Nope.
It’s been about 6 months since I worked on this book and, guess what? I DO NOT REMEMBER IT AGAIN.
So! To combat my awful memory and, hopefully, save time when I go for another bout of edits, I decided to make myself remember with a visual representation.
Pfft, forget this fancy phrases like “visual representation”. Basically I drew all over my wall.
The photo is rather awful because I made this delicate spider web behind my bedroom door. The light is awful behind my door. I have sheets of editing notes, sheets of plots, sheets of backstory. I have sticky notes to answer questions. I COLOUR-CODED.
I am organised.
So did it work?! Do I remember my story?
#Awkward
In fact, once I was joking around with my sister and she quoted what I thought was a movie line. I couldn’t remember the movie, so I asked.
Mime: “Um, Cait. That line was from your book.”
Oh, yeah. Ha. Fancy that.
I also have (colour-coded, of course) sections for book ideas.
Hopefully someday I’ll be able to combine these messy notions, and not be faced with writing 38 stories. Because, let’s face it! I have not got my grubby paws on the fountain of youth yet. It’s a progress, my friends. The minions are working on it.
(For curiosity sakes, orange is urban fantasy/paranormal. There are a LOT more orange. Pink is contemporary. There is 1 pink.)
All of this is a desperate attempt to help me JUST REMEMBER THINGS.
In the last 5 years: I have written 14 novels, I have read upwards of 400 books, studied courses, memorised lists, listened to conversations, researched a million topics on the internet, crammed my brain with movie plots, and run a small business based on remember what people like and what they don’t.
My brain is very full.
Imagine being a published author who has done a million times more than me?
Imagine having several books published, hosting several internet sensational youtube channels, heading up charities and fundraisers, and being a movie producer and having a family?
Yep, that’s right folks: I’m talking about the John Green plagiarism calamity.
(I know, I know, it’s old news. But I forgot [har har] to blog about it.)
You’ve probably seen the vlog where internationally bestselling YA author, John Green, “stole” a quote from a 13-year-old tumblr user. He explained how it happened (a logical mistake) and he admitted to not remembering he wrote the quote, but just accepting he did because he has a record for misremembering.
For goodness sakes he couldn’t remember the plot of TFIOS.
The internet basically shot John Green down in flames claiming he didn’t apologise well enough (despite the girl he accidentally stole from being okay with the apology) and another article claimed the plagiarism was an act of sexism against young female fans (what even?!) and scores and scores of people saying:
“IT’S RIDICULOUS THAT JOHN GREEN FORGOT HIS OWN BOOK.”
Trust me, it’s neither ridiculous or unrealistic. It already happens to me and I haven’t even done much with my life yet! Some people have bad memories. Sometimes it’s in our personalities! (I’ve read that INTJ’s [which is me] have series problems with memory.)
But WAIT! This post isn’t about John Green.
It’s actually about being a writer with a bad memory and is there a way to fix this?
(The post is actually also totally about me. Come on! This is my blog! I have a thousand posts here about me and still more to say. I must be fabulous.)
I don’t have a cure, and I’m wondering if you have advice. Which is why this post is VERY open for discussion. But before I turn it over to you, here are a few things I do to help remember my own books.
THINGS I DO TO HELP ME REMEMBER WHAT I WROTE:
- I, like you saw, plot a book on my wall to help make it more concrete in my mind.
- I write synopsises and blurbs and detailed outlines. Maybe not before I write a book, but definitely AFTER.
- I never ever ever trust my memory with an idea. My iPod is always on hand to jot down a sentence or phrase of an idea. (The “genius” ones I write down at midnight are, in fact, rubbish in the morning.)
- I talk my ideas over with someone! Usually this is my small sister who will doze while I’m blabbing because, let’s face it, germs of ideas aren’t very intelligent. (I basically just need to talk out loud.)
- I make pinterest boards. Maybe this looks like I’m just procrastinating or having fun, but in actuality, it’s helpful. It makes me remember how I visualised the book.
- When I actually sit down to write, I do it FAST and FURIOUS. I will type a book in a week. This is a desperate attempt to not forget what I’m saying .
- When I edit, I use Word and leave myself “comments” and “note” along the document so I can easily flick back to that important detail.
- My walls are covered in sticky-notes, yes, but also my Mac screen is, too. (The sticky-note app has revolutionised my LIFE.)
It’s possible to be a writer with a bad memory.
It’s possible to be a good writer a bad memory. So is it really all that fair of us to judge published authors for their mistakes? Is it fair for non-writers to call judgment on authors? IS IT?
basically: I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS??! as a writer, do you struggle to remember your own work? if you’re a reader, do you remember EVERYTHING you read? do you have tips for writers with bad-memories? what’s your opinion on the John Green fiasco? (remember, ALL opinions are welcome here.) do you have an embarrassing “bad memory” stories of your own?! TALK TO ME, MY BLOGGLINGS.
Cait @ Paper Fury
…is currently…forgetting all the things.
that was the best bio.
Yesss, the worst thing is when you read a series and it is spaced out and you’re like who was that again? And you feel really confused. I watched that vlog, and I thought that he needed to say some things like you said in this post : there is a lot going on in my life, and I struggle to remember. If you forget stuff, you do need to write it down, or invent a song to help you remember or SOMETHING. I loved seeing your plot strands and organisation. In my house we are organised but in a secret sort of way. For example, yesterday I was baking and I needed a teaspoon and I looked on the floor where I had seen a teaspoon some minutes earlier. o wait…it wasn’t yesterday. It was a last week, I forgot.
this is a really interesting thing to write about. Thanks, Cait 🙂
Shanti recently posted…Loony Blurbs
HA. I forgot to finish my bio! *goes back to edit* See?! That's just proof my brain is elsewhere. -_-And yes, I do think John Green could've mentioned how MUCH goes on in his life (or just the life of a writer. Period) and put it into perspective for non-writers a bit too, maybe? Because sometimes it is hard to understand someone else's angle without an explanation.
I trust my memory much more than I should. An idea for a book will generally strike when I’m not at a computer and I won’t even make a note of it because I’ll think ‘Oh, I’ll remember that,’ then the next time I’m at my laptop, can I remember it? No I can’t.
I don’t remember everything I read either. I envy people who remember quotes from books or every little thing – my best friend is like a walking Harry Potter encyclopaedia and she’ll say something and despite the fact I have read the books multiple times I’ll be thinking ‘Hmph! I don’t remember that…’ So I can see how John Green got confused. I can’t imagine that authors read their book a whole lot after it’s published, they’re probably just glad to have finished with it and got it out to the world.
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I HEAR YA. I've fallen into the “oh I'll remember it” so so many times. Usually I think of something awesome just before I go to bed and I'm like, “Yeah that'll be there in the morning”. HAHAHA AH CAIT NO.I'm absolutely awed by people who remember actual book quotes. I consider myself doing a good job if I remember the main character's name.
Not really. I think my memory on my story works very well. I make Plot plans with a lot of bubbles and arrows and all the relations between the people and a timeline… so I usually at least don’t forget the gist of my writing. Well, I do know. There was a time, when I simply just wrote, without planning anything, and back then I always struggled with plotholes and other mistakes, but then I started planning the plot (which led to plotting and plotting all over the time without writing a single word) and everything was okay. The only thing is probably, that I do still forget most of the good sentences I write. Sometimes, I want to re-write something from my stories, and actually want to keep some things from the first attempt to write that pat of the story down, but then I can’t find my first writing, my first sentences about it (I write by hand, so I’ve got a whole mountain of notepaper flying around my room) and basicall start from scratch again, with a logical plot, but no base I could build it on. Which is a little bit frustrating.
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Woah you write by hand?!! I ADMIRE YOU FOR THAT. I would probably just die…my handwriting is so bad and I get cramps after like 2 sentences. hehe.
Yes, but it leads to losing my notes and not finding them… which is really frustrating and sad and juts happened… :-/
When typing at the computer usually my fingers start freezing at least after an hour…
I read your last question STI? the first time…
I tend to forget things a lot but I try to forget them after I’ve completed them.
I don’t remember the names or covers of books I’ve read either. I remember what happens thankfully. Otherwise I’d spend my whole life re-reading.
In writing I tend to remember what I’m doing by just reading the story through…
I feel like all your methods are really good and I don’t think I can help in any other way.
-Thing 1
P.S. I didn’t comment on John Green because like you said the blog is about you.
The struggle is real wtih trying to remember everything. *nods gravely* OH, but HELLO! I don't know if I've ever officially said hi to you?!! SO HI! XDAlso *whispers* I was just kidding about it all being about me. 😉 Just so you know.
Yes to all. Basically, my memory sucks. And like you, I trust nothing to my memory, especially not if I think of something right before going to sleep. “No, I don’t have to write this down, I’ll remember it in the morning.” <- THIS DOES NOT WORK. I haven't written enough books to really forget anything yet, but I am very sure I'll become one of those people who forgets their own plots/quotes. And you know what? That's okay. We'll be our own brand of writers. The writers who write books with two endings because they forgot they'd ended it before. The writers who give their characters three different surnames because they forgot they'd named them before. The writers who'll show up and book signings, and when a fan says, "Oh my god, I LOVED that part of the book!" you go, "Oh thanks! … What was that part again?"
And it shall be glorious.
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HA HAHA. *cries* yes. The just-before-going-to-sleep is a real black hole for ideas. Sometimes I type out a few badly typoed sentences on my iPod, but they always sound awful and stupid in the morning. -_- I already AM a person who forgets their own plots/quotes so imagine me if I actually do get published?!! I WILL BE THAT AUTHOR WHO ASKS THE FANS WHAT HAPPENED IN MY OWN BOOK. (Provided I get fans. *heavy sigh*)
I SO AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT JOHN GREEN. I feel so sorry for him since he’s gotten more famous, because everyone’s so critical of him 🙁 (and it doesn’t help that he’s male, white and wealthy). I forget things all the time. Like my main characters’ names. Oops…
BUT ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO READ YOUR BOOK ABOUT DAY AND NIGHT DWELLERS. Ha. You think we can’t read it? We cannnnn. Also the Grim Reaper and Apprentice Reaper. I demand it now please 🙂
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IT SUCKS. If he wasn't famous, no one would care that he didn't apologise “satisfactorily”. They'd commend him for apologising and giving that girl all the money and stuff. *growls* And people seem to think that he just vlogs and writes but he does SO MUCH for charity too. Like that's huge. #JohnGreenisamazingHA. YOU SNEAKY. I was certain no one would be able to read my ideas. xD Do you like my sticky notes reminding myself of plot holes? *facepalm* I HAVE ISSUES OKAY.
I do remember everything I read (not word for word – just plot/characters/stuff) but only if it’s fictional. My best ideas and best lines for writing also tend to stay in my head whether I write them down or not. Despite this, I have pieces of paper covered in ideas all over my desk, half-filled notebooks all over my room, and my diary (supposed to be about my life) is full of story ideas and things about my characters’ lives (um…whoops?). I am a tiny bit (understatement) terrified of forgetting even though I have never ever ever forgotten one of my stories/characters. If you find the fountain of youth, can you send me directions? I also have a zillion ideas and next to no time 🙁
I hadn’t heard about the John Green thing before, but I think it’s fair enough. Everything is inspired by everything else and he probably didn’t realise that he hadn’t come up with it himself. He apologised. The girl was fine with it. Accidents happen.
Why is fictional stuff soooo much easier to remember?!! I totally can have an in-depth conversation about the politics of The Hunger Games, but the history of Australia? HAHA AH. no. Absolutely not. I don't even remember our first Prime Minister mostly.Story ideas are totally a legit and logical thing to fill a life-diary with.Pfft, you thik I'll be NICE? I'm gonna bottle the Fountain of Youth and sell. *nods* <— World domination plan #13959208
I love all the notes on the wall with the string – it makes me think of a detective trying to figure out a case.
I definitely forget things that I read; it doesn’t matter how much I love the book, I slowly start to forget things. I can completely understand how a writer can forget parts of their books – especially if they have written a number of books. My only advice is make sure you write everything down and look at it regularly. I have to make sure I write ideas for blog posts down, because as soon as I think of them, I forget them just as fast.
Chantelle recently posted…A Dream Come True
I feel like writing is like being a detective sometimes. 0_0 BUT BETTER. Because when you can't figure the answer you just make up something new. #devious XD
omg, you’ve found a reason to post a bunch of papers on a wall and connect them with string — YOU’RE LIVING THE DREAM.
I know exactly what you mean, though. I’ve been writing a SIX BOOK series over the last 8 years or so, and if I wasn’t constantly, constantly, constantly rereading my own writing, I’d never remember anything. Even with rereading all the time, I still have sudden shocks of “OH POO–I CAN’T DO THAT, THAT CONTRADICTS THAT OTHER THING THAT APPARENTLY EXISTS EVEN THOUGH I DON’T EVER REMEMBER WRITING THAT DOWN.”
So, I would say that’s my biggest advice. READ YOUR OWN WRITING OBSESSIVELY. Read it, and read it, and read it again. Because, almost every single time, you’ll suddenly notice something you’d forgotten about, or hadn’t thought about in a while, or have no recollection whatsoever of ever putting down into words, and it’ll change EVERYTHING.
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I AM LIVING THE DREAM. NEXT THING I'M GOING TO BE SHERLOCK, OKAY? IT'S ON MY BUCKET LIST. Gonna solve crime and plot holes. AHHHH SERIES ARE HARD. I TOTALLY APPLAUD YOU. I have a 6-book fantasy series and bah ahaha ha, no, I don't remember anything in it. I would always have new plots that didn't directly relate because I couldn't ever remember what the last book was about. I AM SO SAD.
I NEVER trust my memory…I can usually remember the basic plot and characters, but once I start to get serious about an idea I like to have it all written down. I usually use notebooks, since I like to have a hard copy of everything. I really admire you for to stay on top of it all!
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Having it all written down is SO WISE. Notebooks are fabulous….I have so many unused notebooks for ideas but i'm too lazy to write them down. But I feel like they'd be more inspiring in notebooks than just sticky-notes on my ipod?!
I have tried to write PLENTY of times, but I’ve never gotten far enough in a book to actually forget anything (but of course, I totally forget which characters have which color eyes and all that) plot-related. But as a reader, I FORGET ALMOST EVERYTHING ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. Like The Battle of the Labyrinth? Yeah, I tell everyone it’s my all-time favorite book, but tell me a scene in the book and I bet you I won’t remember when it happened or if it even happened. -_-
And gah, your ways of remembering are so cute! I find it adorable that your walls are full of writerly things! <3
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I read the Percy Jackson books like so so fast I can't remember what happened in which book. *cries* I THINK Labryinth is my favourite??? But I can't for the life of me remember what happens in book 3. 0-0 #bookwormproblems
I’m pretty good at remembering the basics of my plot…but when it comes to eye color….or even hair color…it gets fuzzy. And there sometimes when I’ll brainstorming with my big sis and we’ll come up with something awesome and then totally forget it later. Grr. Poor John Green. I mean, he’s written a lot of contemporary fiction, so it probably starts to mesh together after awhile, you know? It’s a little comforting that even a really famous writer like him forgets stuff.
Emma Clifton recently posted…The Cover
I think writing a lot of anything would end up having it blur. I can't imagine how hard it must be for fantasy writers!! Like they have to remember their entire WORLD and stuff. gah!
OHMYGARGOYLES YES. I forget EVERYTHING.
I’ve actually been forgetting a lot of things lately, particularly in school and such. It’s my firm opinion that American schools should begin in September and end in March, because that’s when we all start to get summer fever.
And I’m currently working on the second draft of my book and I forget things on a daily basis. It’s a very bad second draft (but that’s okay because I’m only changing the plot). In order to combat this deadly beast, i leave reminders for myself in all caps, bolded, and font size 48 as to what happens next.
thank you for this post! because I will definitely be like john green. definitely.
Rcubed recently posted…MUSICAL ENDEAVORS, MOVIE INSANITY
I ACKNOWELDGE THIS PAIN. *whispers* Australian schools start in February and finish in November…like…we go with the year. XD The American school system confuses me so much. haaha. XDThat's a huge problem though!! IT's when we start CHANGING things and can't remember if we kept it/ditched it/rewrote it back in. *facepalm* The struggle is real.
The way I remember stuff is be rereading it again and again. For example, I can tell you a lot about my favorite series just from all the rereads I’ve had. The more familiar I am with the context the more I will tell you.
I do not think the same applies to my own writing, unfortunately. I don’t necessarily remember everything I’ve written, and I’m okay with that too. I think, like you, writing things quickly helps, because when I do something all in one day I am more likely to remember it—if I wait to edit it or anything I’ll be like “oh yeah, I forgot about all these things.” It takes a while for me to refamiliarize myself.
Plus, the more books you have the more material that can easily get mixed up or lost in your brain. If you only ever write one book and spend your whole life writing that book, then there’s a fairly good chance you might know that book fairly well because it is the only thing of significance or import in your life. If you write frequently and with different stories, and work on them all a little bit in various ways, you’re not going to drill it into your mind as well and the series may be more varied.
But, anyway, I thought that John Green handled his problems rather gracefully and readers can be silly. Forgetting is not the worst thing that could happen.
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Rereading is probably a really wise thing to combat this. I seriously want to reread all my favourite childhood books right now just so I can remember their magical beauty. And YES. The more that's in your brain the harder it gets. GAaaaah. And I always have like one book in progress while 3 more (at least) are stewing and I'm coming up with plots and it just gets so messy and crazy. *Cries* I NEED A SECRETARY IN MY BRAIN. Omg. I need a Jarvis.
Ugh, I know your pain. People in my online writing group are always like, “what’s your favorite quote from your WIP?” or “Give me your MC’s funniest quote!” And I’m just sitting there at my laptop wondering if it is worth going over all the dialogue in my manuscript to find a quote. Any quote.
That said I do generally remember my plot. I remember it better, of course, if I’ve only just finished reading/writing it. If I leave something for months and months I may forget a few plot points.
I’ve never messed up a wall with writing stuff – I just keep folders upon folders upon folders of documents and notes on my laptop, along with dozens of pinterest boards, a sketchbook full of character sketches, and quotes that capture a character or theme stored BOTH on my pinterest boards and in my file system. And then I have the random notes I jot down on whatever paper is in sight . . . I try to have a binder for each WIP to store drawings and notes and all that.
Poor John Green. I sympathize.
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HA! I get that too! I actually *ahem* sometimes embarrassingly bookmark quotes I like from my own book in case someone asks me. >.>Pinterest is amazing and totally AWESOME for writing. Like people think it's just a “fun thing” but they underestimate how crucial it can be for plotting. I'll go on and see this quote and this little note I wrote and be like “OMG I FORGOT THAT PLOT POINT, GOTTA GO PUT IT IN.” I love pinterest. I should seriously consider getting a binder per WIP because at some point I'm gonna run out of wall….
I love the spider web thingy! It’s awesome (and I’m also relieved – sorta – that you didn’t actually write all over your walls – gosh when the muse takes over, that’s it). I get what you mean – I don’t think anybody in their right mind could ever retain whole novels with all their qualms, and attitudes towards those novels for a long amount of time. Especially if you’ve got lots of new ideas buzzing around (seriously, only one pink?).
Of course you can be a good writer with bad memory – THERE ARE NO BOUNDARIES. 😀
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YES I ONLY SAID THAT TO BE CHEEKY. Because I think my parents would, um, kill me. Which would be messy, but hey, walls are precious.(I'm ashamed there's only one pink. I also added a murder into it yesterday so now i don't think it should be pink, it should be green. BUT I LEFT IT AS PINK BECAUSE PINK WAS SO LONELY.)
I have to write down character descriptions or I will very quickly forget what my MC and side characters look like. It’s a bit sad, really. I actually have quite a good memory for plots, and I struggle to tell people plots of my books because I tell them all the things.
Story time! Frequently, my parents brag about having “such a young daughter who is already writing books.” [I am thirteen. -_-] So I am forced to tell a bunch of adults about my current novel. And because I like to torture my characters, I have a lot of subplots. I then proceed to tell them a very detailed “summary” of it. I basically tell them the entire novel without dialogue.
But I have the flaw of adding in waaaaaay too many plot twists. This happened with my first novel I started [I ended at 65k when I wasn’t even done]. I had so many subplots that I couldn’t finish. I’m hoping to go back to it some day and cut away all the crap, because I was basically like, that’s a good idea–let’s put it in!x10 -_-
That was a long story, sorry. 😛
Chloe @ The Book Hugger recently posted…Book Review: My So-Called Ruined Life by Melanie Bishop
Oh oh I totally get the pain of that. I was writing when I was 14 and mum was really proud and people kept saying “What are you writing” and afterwards I would basically get on my knees and BEG my mum never to tell people I write. IT'S SO HARD. People underestimate the hardness of summing up a novel. XDSometimes we're not ready for the ideas we want to write, too, right?! (BTW, I hugely admire you for getting to 65K for your first book! I think I got to…15K? Max?!! I WAS SO PATHETIC. haha.) I have this HUGE fantasy world I want to write but every time I add something to my plot sheet I think, “Nah, not ready yet.” Someday I'll have enough skills to write it. x)
The first thing I thought when I read the beginning of this post was: HAHAHAHAHA YOU’RE STILES.
About the John Green thing: I watched the video when he first uploaded it, and to be entirely honest, it made absolute and complete sense to me how that could have happened. Sometimes I go to my writing folder and I’m like: What is that thing with this curious name and then I open it and discover it’s something I wrote that I TOTALLY forgot about. I also never remember what I actually wrote when I go back to a story, I usually have to reread everything if it’s been a while. I’ve honestly sometimes been surprised that I wrote something that good, because it felt like shit at the time, and I’ve also discovered that things I THOUGHT were decent when wrote them really weren’t. Isn’t the point of taking a couple of months before you edit exactly that you can step back from the story to look at it with fresh eyes and discover it anew?
I didn’t see the backlash of the John Green video, but I think he handled it pretty decently – he made a video to explain how these things can happen (he could have hushed it up instead), he had already apologized to the person who actually created the quote and he’s paying her retrospectively and sharing profits. These things happen, and I think most of the time we’re way too harsh. Of course I’m not going to purposely plagiarize anything, but ideas and stories are being reproduced over and over and over again in our society. I’m constantly paranoid I’ll subconsciously take up an idea or a line I’ve read somewhere and plagiarize without meaning to, because sometimes you think something is your original idea when it’s actually not. And if you really want to find something, you always will, because EVERYTHING’s been done before.
So what I’m trying to say in a long and convoluted way: easy up, people. It’s important to protect ideas, but we’re all human and mistakes happen. Usually it’s pretty obvious when someone steals on purpose. If you’re going to copy an exact text you found online to your school essay, then yes, you should fail the class. When accidental mistakes like these happen, it’s not that big of a deal.
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EXACTLY. YOU SUMMED UP MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY. I did see a lot of backlash and it just hurt my brain because I really think John Green does an AMAZING job and he does sooo many things and also charities and runs a million and one vlog channels. So sheesh, if the guy forgets things, IT MAKES SENSE. I'll never say it's excusable to plagiarise, but I feel like unknowing plagiarism is different. And he's sharing profits with the girl and she's cool, so I don't understand why the internet was so wild. I feel like no one would've cared if he wasn't mega-famous.
I kind of know what you mean. I remember the most ridiculous stupid little details, but I forgot how one of my characters was killed, and I believe I wrote that he was stabbed in one chapter, and then poisoned in an other chapter, and then I completely forget about parts of the plot for weeks, and have a hard time weaving them in with the rest of the story. It’s embarrassing. If this makes you feel any better, here’s a story of what I did yesterday.
I ordered a couple of drinks for my sisters at Costco, paid for them, and then walked off to fill up my water cup, completely forgetting to pick up the drinks I’d ordered AND my change. The lady at the counter had to call me back. There were a lot of people there, and it was REALLY awkward. XD
So I don’t think your memory is all that bad. (-:
It's sooo hard to remember EVERYTHING. It totally is! I FEEL YOUR PAIN. Haha! I've done things like that. Walked off without grabbing my stuff. >.> It's very embarrassing.
Ha ha, Cait, I have not a thread of a clue. Maybe try working on one, maybe two, at a time until they are completely finished? The only thing I ever forget are names of flat characters and foods, but I have lists for those, so it is a quick fix. I really do think you are working on too many at once. I would be fogetful too with that much going on!
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BUT IS AN IDEA OR A BOOK EVER REALLY FINISHED?!! *hyperventilates* hehe. 😉 I really only work on one book at a time. The lists of ideas and stuff are just to peruse as I'm, you know, being useless and just converting carbon dioxide between edits/drafts.
Your comment about the “genius” ideas at midnight made me laugh. I used to do the same thing, but the ideas were about as far from genius as you can get. They were more like… Flaming Globes of Sigmund. But I digress. A lot.
Have you tried using Scrivener? It looks like it would be a good fit for you. You can make sort of virtual idea boards… without cluttering up your bedroom walls. I’ve been meaning to try it, but I’m leery of the Windows version (the program was originally developed for the Mac).
La Coccinelle @ The Ladybug Reads… recently posted…New to the TBR Pile (19)
My memory for details is usually pretty good, except for in my WIP that takes place on a new planet and I can’t remember character names. Guh, I did it to myself because a lot of them are so similar to one another. To remedy, I made a cheat sheet listing all the names, made up words etc. Otherwise I had to CNTRL F to find it in context somewhere.
I had not heard of that John Green incident — I’m not really a fan as I have yet to read any of his books, but he always seems to be in some sort of incident. Ah, but one of the articles you linked out to talked about how someone plagiarized THG movie and I died laughing at the audacity of that. Being original is tough — there are tons of us out there in this big world. Plus, we all pull writing from experiences and its easy for us to forget where things come from.
Anne @ Lovely Literature recently posted…Anne’s five mini reviews: February 2015
Cheat sheets are life. I would die without my list of cheating sheets. I once wrote a 6-book series and by the end I never described ANYONE because I couldn't remember what they looked like. 0_0 #mybadI feel like if someone gets rather famous then everyone starts to hate them. -_- Particularly authors. I don't think everyone would be so outraged at Veronica Roth for Allegiant's ending if she wasn't famous at that point.
I dropped cake on my laptop while reading this post. Trying to figure out how to blame you for it…
and you are fabulous.
So about remembering things… I don’t have THAT big a problem with that, but in CASE I might possibly forget something, I’m usually pretty good at doing something to help me remember it. (at least I try to.) A mind palace would really help but I TRIED TO MAKE ONE ONCE AND IT’S SO HARD TO KEEP UP ON IT.
anywho. A mind palace would help if you could make it work for you. I also have a large white board next to my desk and I write random notes on it about my WIPs. (I can’t have more than on WIP on it at a time and I hate to erase my notes so Dement is like permanently stuck on there XD.) I also have a notebook for every active project and I write down important plotsy things. When I do ACTUALLY write an outline, I do it on a yellow legal pad(those things are great) and I keep every. single. piece. of paper. ever. Until it becomes irrelevant and then I still don’t throw it away because I WROTE THOSE WORDS THEY’RE PART OF MY HEART and then slowly my desk fills up with folded up yellow papers and they drive me crazy.
so.
Maybe there’s something in that monologue that can help you XD Let’s hope.
Lisa Canfield recently posted…Heya
I AM SORRY ABOUT YOUR CAKE. I hope you saved it. Also: unfair. I want cake.I want a mind palace SO SO BAD. But then wooork. Gah. I researched all how to make one and seriously I couldn't keep that up. I would just explode. I CANNOT. *storms off* Basically I need a Sherlock to remember things for me.
It was cool for a while because I made a box for all my book projects and //engraved their titles on the top//. And they were all in order and it was beautiful and visual
and i forgot what order the boxes were in and then everything crashed and i was sad.
Lisa Canfield recently posted…Heya
I can be really forgetful with my writing sometimes because honestly, it’s difficult to remember every line I’ve written in a book and every character’s eye colors. Books are filled with so many things that I can’t blame John Green for not noticing that a particular quote was something he didn’t write. Sometimes I wish I was a faster drafter so that I could remember everything that goes on in my novels, but I’m really not a fast drafter. I’m trying to be one, but I’ll see how that works out. Once I took a really long break from a manuscript and forgot the gender of the robot… And I’m pretty sure if I was a fast drafter that would not have happened.
I don’t think there’s really much we can do to “fix” this memory problem, but for me, reading back through my work helps. I also take lots of notes and do lots of plotting beforehand, so I can always read through all of my character sketches and outlines when I need a refresher.
Also, the storyboard wall and ideas wall are brilliant. I need to do that!
Ana @ Butterflies of the Imagination recently posted…Poetry and Novels, and How They Mix
I HAVE to be a fast drafter just to keep it all going…or else I lose the plot. LITERALLY. *facepalm* I don't even remember what my characters' names are sometimes, so I totally get that John Green forgot a quote. How on earth is he expected to remember ALL the quotes from his books?!
DUDE!!! I don’t know where I was, but I totally missed that John Green thing that happened. I can’t believe it! Woah. Well, I’m glad that ended happily. As for as writing goes, I am TOTALLY right there with you. I have written and finished four books (really lengthy and deeply developed books), and I forget ALL. THE. TIME. It’s just what happens. I generally have this thing where I have to forget about what my book is about before I come back to it and really dig deep into the edits. But it happens to me all the time. You’re not alone! 🙂
Amanda P. recently posted…The Healing Power of Binge Reading
YAY WE ARE TOGETHER IN OUR FORGETFULLNESS. I once wrote a 6-book series and…by the end, woah, I was not describing ANYONE because I couldn't remember the details. -_-
I have a special notebook where I write down all my ideas. I also have Evernote on my phone for when I’m on the go. Otherwise, I’ll completely forget. But I find that it’s easy for me to remember things once I’ve written them down, even if I never go back to it again. And that thing you said about genius ideas being rubbish in the morning, is so true for me! XD
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I don’t think it’s weird that after a while you forget things. So I am not a writer, but I have heard of writers that they don’t remember everythgin from books they ahev written and while I have a good memory if you ask me when somethign happened in a book I read 5 years ago I can’t tell you. Although the way you wrote this post makes it still sound pretty funny that you can’t remember things about your own books. I would recommend to look things up if your not 100% sure, but beside that knowing you forget things is probably a good first step and I think you already do some good things to try and remember, that book wall looks fun!
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YES SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS.
Every single time anyone has read one of my books, they comment on something and I’m like, “Wait, when was that again?” or “Wait, that happened in this book? I thought it was the other one…” or worse, “Wait, are you sure that happened in MY book?”
Also, I totally make comments in my docs because I KNOW I will forget that important detail. I’ve never forgotten whole plots before, but yes, while writing, I have totally forgotten I already wrote such-and-such scene. Also, I tend to inadvertently change people’s names all the time without even noticing. Like I’ll just assume I didn’t name someone yet (because I rarely name people, especially side characters, until they surprise me and you know, show up) and…rename them. Whoops.
Basically, YAY IT’S NOT JUST ME.
WRITERS! LET US UNITE IN THIS MATTER. HUZZAH!The “Wait are you sure this happened in MY book” is so so me. It's rather embarrassing. >_< That's why I make my sister read my books so we can confer notes. I often go to her and say “Hey how do this book end?”
To be perfectly honest, Cait, I don’t think I’m as far gone on the road to being a forgetful writer as you. At the moment I’m focusing on, like, two projects and really trying to ingrain them into my brain. Maybe the whole forgetting thing will come later … when I’ve more books to keep track of. But what I’ve read of your stories (and peeked at on your Pinterest boards) is amazing … you totally will be a bestselling published author one day. (And I’m hoping it’s soon … PLEASE!) xo
ZOMG YOU HAVE COMPLETELY MADE ME SMILE AND MADE MY DAY. THANK YOU. I want to be a published author one day. x) *crosses fingers and toes* Hoooooopefully. But yes, I think this probably gets worse the more projects a writer takes on, eh?! I have so many books in my head. Gah!
Oh no! I’m not an author (I’m more of a journalist, fiction writing definitely isn’t my thing), but I can totally empathize!
I used to constantly forget things (I’m pretty sure there’s been at least one incident in which I brought a jacket to school every day and lost it every day, meaning that by Friday, I had five missing jackets and had to track them all down), but thankfully it’s gotten better now.
But that just means when I forget, it’s something major, like misplacing my phone somewhere or forgetting where I’ve parked my car.
It’s great that you have such a great organization system, though 🙂 Good luck!
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Forgetting where you parked the car? OMG THE STRUGGLE IS REAL, MY FRIEND. My mum once completely lost the car. She literally couldn't find it for hours. I can't remember how she located it again, I think just be calling a friend and having them help her cruise the entire shopping centre until we found it. 0_0 FORGETFULNESS IS A PROBLEM.
What a fascinating topic, I had no idea about John Green and accidentally plagiarising someone! I mean we take all of our thoughts from multiple sources, and then we can’t even remember whether we made it up ourselves or someone said it once. I myself have a terrible memory, and I don’t think forgetting a book that you wrote is far off the mark either. I mean, I look at some of the reviews that I did for some books and I’m like oh yeah…I wrote that. Great topic Cait!
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I was just really surprised the internet didn't let it go for so long! (Okay, this is coming from me who is, now, rehashing it, lol. But I wanted to write on this topic for a while I just kept….forgetting. *facepalm*)
GOSH CAIT, THIS POST. <3 .>
Kara @ Diary of a Teen Writer recently posted…Sunday Weekly Wrap Up (54) & Stacking the Shelves (35)
Okay, so I think your blog must’ve ate the rest of that comment, because I certainly wrote more than that one line. O.o Anyway, I can’t remember what I wrote (yes, you guessed it, I have a bad memory xD) but nevertheless, this post was SUPER AWESOME. I think it’s great to see that I am not alone in my bad memory-writing thing. Not only with writing, but sometimes I forget I’ve scheduled unfinished posts on my blog, which generally earn a lot of “????”s from people. xD I’ve never tried some of the methods you’ve used, though, but I might. I know that sticky notes helped a lot for my HSC, so they might work here too. 🙂
Kara @ Diary of a Teen Writer recently posted…Sunday Weekly Wrap Up (54) & Stacking the Shelves (35)
You used >’s. They’re formatting symbols, and will eat anything between them.
Kendra E. Ardnek recently posted…Fairer-Than-A-Fairy
MY BLOG IS MEAN LIKE THAT. It gets hungry. I really don't feed it enough. You'd think 5 posts a week would satisfy it, right? But nooooo. It has to eat comments too. Ahem. What was I saying?OH YES. “Bad memory” baha ha. You are perfect. I've scheduled a few unfinished posts which I found absolutely mortifying. Omg, though, I can't imagine surviving HSC. 0-0 My memory and I would die.
Hi Cait,
I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and enjoy it a lot. You’ve got a great writing style. I may not be able to help you remember things, but can I suggest you try Scrivener? It’s a writing tool/ software designed to help you keep track of info and write long documents. It was created by a novelist and is brilliant. (The amazing parts of it are too much to mention here.) You can download a trial version and see how you go with it. I know Cassandra Clare used it to write at least some of the Moral Instruments books….
Best of luck with all your WIPs.
Cherie
Hey Cherie! Welcome to my blog!! *waves* And it's nice to meet you! I WOULD like to try Scrivener someday. I watched a tutorial and I loooove all the additions, it just looks so so good. I'm basically waiting for an epic sale because I'm poor. haah.
Keep an eye on NaNoWriMo, last year (Nov) if you ‘won’, you could purchase it half price, which worked out to be about $23 AUD. Probably the cheapest you’ll get it.
I will do that! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Love the wall! I have the worst memory these days and always tell my kids that it’s because “my brain is full” too. It would be nice if I could just run a disk cleanup on it like a hard drive, but sadly, there’s a bunch of stuff in there that I can’t access without great difficulty.
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I try the “my brain is too full” but my family just glares and goes “YOU'RE ONLY TWENTY ONE.” But hey! I've read a lot of books! Lived a lot of lives! It's possible to be brain full NOW.
I’ve been thinking about this too. When you write a lot of novels, how could you remember them all? Do any of us remember all the school assignments we’ve done, just because we were the ones writing them?
I saw his apology, and I thought it was a nice one and explained very well. People should stop bashing people on the Internet. It’s probably the same people who first bashed the girl for stealing a John Green-quote that’s now bashing John Green for stealing her quote.
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I'm pretty sure the internet just loooooves hating on someone. -_- I feel like, though, some of the arguments were ridiculous and it wasn't fair because he DID apologise! And he gave her the money he'd made off the poster! And…and she was okay with it all! So why the riots?! GAH.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a pretty good memory when it comes to my writing (to my life, not so much, especially when you add in dates – for the LIFE of me, I can’t remember if I was ten or eleven when I started writing the play that became the second book of my seven book fantasy series. I just know it was between Christmas and New Years).
I’m not sure how my writing memory is so good, but I think it stems from the fact that my tactile memory is strong. If I do something physically, I usually remember it. If I’m thinking out my book while knitting a scarf, said book will become associated with that scarf. When I write something, be it by hand or on keyboard, I usually remember it. (Small details, not always. I’m human, and have been known to contradict myself.)
I love talking out my ideas with people, especially my mom, and it really helps things click in my brain. If I don’t have someone to talk something out with, or a notebook to write something down it (or I simply can’t be bothered to pull out my notebook) I’ll just think out a new idea long and hard, extrapolating everything I can until the book idea is too big to forget.
Also, I reread my writing A LOT. Even if I think it’s terrible, I reread it over and over to fix the details in my brain. If I even suspect I might be contradicting myself, I’ll go back and reread whatever is applicable, and adjust accordingly.
Kendra E. Ardnek recently posted…Fairer-Than-A-Fairy
YOUR MEMORY IS VERY GOOD THEN. Pfft, I barely remember when I finished my first “Full” book. I'd like to say 15. But it could've been 14. WHO KNOWS. These days i write everything down, like my start and finish dates. Gah. Word association is good too. *nods* All the books I've ever read on holidays I remember REALLY well because I just associate them with the caravan or the bush or campfires or something. Books I read at home just end up blurring. I love talking to Mime about my ideas but she's soooo busy. >_< She doesn't have time anymore. It's so awesome your mum is a willing listening ear. 😉
No, I don’t remember everything, and I definitely don’t expect people to remember everything either. The way I see it, an author writes a book, and if it’s a series, they need to remember key points, like from the world and such, but the rest, I don’t expect that, you have other ideas, other thoughts, SO MANY THOUGHTS, it’s unrealistic. Forgetting is easy. I get so many ideas all the time about things and forget, it’s naturals, and I understand completely. I also love how you have your ideas everywhere, must be a tad fun when you read them and go ‘OH MY, HOW HAVEN’T I WRITTEN THIS YET?!’ – great post though Cait! 🙂
Amanda @ Beautiful Bookish Butterflies recently posted…Weekly Recap 16-21 Mar. 2015
IT IS FUN FINDING MY IDEAS! I totally flicked through my ipod and found, like, 6 of them I'd forgotten about. I just sat there like “I'm wasting my life I should've written these by now”. ON THE WALL THEY GO. it's nice to have them in neat colourful lines now. :')
Wow. I do forget things but it’s usually just names. “I know this guy has a name, but I’m too lazy to find it. Let’s just draw a blank line to fill in later.” Or I just change the name- three times throughout the book. I don’t normally forget the plot though (there is very little plot to remember :P). But there are these times-
The biggest thing is when I do write my ideas down, I can never find them! It doesn’t matter if it was handwritten or virtual. I don’t know what notebook or word document it is in anymore. I’m working on a new idea and I know, that I know that I wrote the details down. . . somewhere.
Actually, there was this one time, heh, I was certain, 100% positive, that I wrote down some scenes and ideas related to one of my works. I vaguely remembered them, but where was the actual material? I went through all of the flash drives- nothing. It took a whole day for me to tear up my room and look at almost every scrap of paper I had, until I finally faced the fact that I had only “mental wrote” this stuff down and now half of it was gone. 😛
But I’m thinking that I might have to steal your “story on a wall” idea. Because I’m kind of an out of sight, out of mind person.
Ashley G. recently posted…Review of The False Prince
HA. YES! Putting a blank is so what I do sometimes. Or I just stop describing characters because I can't remember how I introduced them originally. One guy when from black hair to read in like ONE CHAPTER. *facepalm* I'm hopeless.Omg, that's sad though. Mentally writing something is SO ANNOYING. But honest…I always “mentally” reply to emails. And then I realise it's been like 2 weeks and they have NOT been replied to and I feel awful. >_<I totally want to see your “story on the wall” if you do one!! 😉 It's SO helpful to do it visually.
Well, my problem isn’t quite that I can’t remember, it’s that my mind won’t even let me START most of the time. But I can easily see forgetting stuff! Like, VERY easily. I have read beta books and stuff that get names wrong, locations wrong, etc., and I assume that’s why a million people have to read over books before they are published. Because come on, who COULD remember all that!? Especially with multiple books/WIPs. You just cannot!
As such, I think the John Green outrage was SO UNFOUNDED. Come on, cut the guy a break! Not only has he written a bunch of books, he has promotions for all the movies, and the books, and who knows what else the guy has to do! So he forgets a quote? Great, he apologizes. And HE DID. So what is the problem? He isn’t human because he forgot a line in a book that he had written more than SEVEN YEARS AGO? Oh no, call the police!
Anyway, this just makes me mad. There is nothing wrong with forgetting! Because we cannot help it! If it leaves my brain, I didn’t tell it to!
Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight recently posted…This Week At Midnight (53)
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO REMEMBER THE THINGS. In one ear out the other, I say. And EXACTLY! You do need like 2 million people to read a book prior to publishing, which is why self-publishing scares me because you have to have sooooo much help to make it a really good book. *sigh*I agree! he did NOT deserve to be burnt alive. He's done sooo much with the movies and, like, the charities he does, and all the youtube channels. And, IDEK, I guess he likes to remember his kids names and do stuff with them too, maybe?!! THE GUY HAS A LOT GOING ON. *sigh*
I actually can remember my own writing quite well — to the point that I was on prefect duty the other day, stuck in an empty hall with no one to tell off, and started planning revisions. That said, it’s only for my WIP — took me a while to recall all the characters from my old mss. And new plots have a mischievous ability to stay stuck in my head, the better to distract me until I wander off track. *sighs* (Ooh yes, I saw that John Green debacle as well. The article about sexism was quite interesting — I found it not very convincing, but definitely some great examples in there.)
Alyssa recently posted…Bookish Takeout [1]: Print Books Are Not Dying
I don’t usually forget my story details, but I DO forget…….everything else. EVERYTHING. “Oh, yeah, someone called for you seven hours ago. I still wouldn’t have remembered if the phone hadn’t rung just now.” “Did such-and-such happen yesterday, or two days ago? Three?” “How old even was I in that memory?” “Wait, where are we going? What are we doing?” “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” “I know you’ve told me a million times, but how long do you put this popcorn in for?” etc. etc. ad nauseam. XD
Rachel W. recently posted…A Look at the Book – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and Hollow City, by Ransom Riggs
Whenever someone talks about anything memory-related, I always feel really awkward because I have a photographic memory. If you mention the name of a book that I’ve read, no matter how long ago I’ve read it, I can instantly tell you – without looking at / referencing anything – a). what it’s about, b). what I rated it and c). what I did / didn’t like about it.
*shrugs* I wish I had better advice to give, but for this scenario I’m probably not the best one to consult – LOL! Great post Cait! ♥
P.S. Love the bio BTW!
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I actually have a pretty good memory fortunately, but that doesn’t mean I don’t forget this sometimes. I write my ideas down any chance I get. I think that’s the biggest key. Write ideas down even though it may be simple to remember at that moment.
Stori Tori’s Blog
I have a TERRIBLE memory. I inherited it from my father. When my parents were dating, my mother would call my father The Absent Minded Professor, because he forgot EVERYTHING. He still does. He can say with confidence that he’s not getting Alzheimers because his memory is just as good as it was when he was a teenager. Which is not-too-good.
So yes, I do forget a lot of things I write – and a lot of things I read. I’ll be reading over my old novels, and think
“Wait, I wrote THIS? I don’t remember this plot twist.” Actually, it’s kind of nice, because that means that the classic argument against rereading never works for me. I can’t say, “Why would I reread – I remember it all!”
Which is why I’m happy I discovered Pinterest last fall. It has changed my characters for the better. WOO.
(And I think authors should be allowed to forget finished projects after they get published. For heaven’s sakes, we have limited brain space, and now we need to clear out the old stuff for the new novels.)
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Oh yes, I usually re-read my first draft and then note all the changes I need to make, then re-write a second draft, then same process etc. until it’s just small word or sentence changes. 😀 <- actually confession, this is what I hope to complete when I finish year 12. (I am currently up to the second drafting stage…)
Thanks for sharing Cait! You basically listed ALL my struggles….BUT THANK THE UNIVERSE FOR PINTEREST!!! 😀 😀 😀
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I have a terrible memory as a writer, s well, so I am constantly rehashing my ideas in my mind so that I don’t forget. I also have two notebooks. The first is the IDEAS NOTEBOOK, where I quickly jot down an idea that comes to my head (even if they are only one liners). Then I have my WRITING NOTEBOOK where I actually write down the stuff that I want to/know will happen in my book. These stuffs are in no way in order, or make any sense to anyone but me, but that is okay. Because I am the writer, and the fact that gibberish makes sense to me is the most important 😀
As a reader I am terrible at remembering and let’s just leave at that because to be quite frank my book memory is embarrassing.
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Oh my God haha, this Post sounds so like my situation! Maybe you can remember – I’m not writing so often. Sometimes I do, but the most time I don’t find enough motivation. At the moment I work on a story, but it’s hard for me to continue the text, because when I want to write again a few days later … I can’t remember what I was writing! And so I read and read again the passages before, but then there are so small details which run out of my brain. It’s so annoying when I want to say something in my story but I’m not sure if this happens or If I’ve said something about this before. And I really don’t want to read the whole text anytime! -.-
So I think your wall is great! It’s so cool that you make yourself so much work and I know that you are writing more than me and so that’s a really good idea. At the moment I don’t have the time to do this and I don’t have the place (Fucking 8qm room!), but when I sometimes really works hard on a project and really want to finish a book, I will remember this Post and then follow your tipps! Great work 😀
Laura recently posted…Gewinne eine Reise an Das unendliche Meer!
I TOTALLY FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!! I was working on a book for about 6 or 7 years. I rewrote it about every year and a half. And I could never remember what I had decided to change. There was one breakthrough moment where I changed the key steps between point A and point B. And I wrote them down. Somewhere. I think. I’ve never managed to find that little slip of paper (and I’ve moved 3 times since then), and I can’t for the life of me remember what that brilliant idea was. All I know is that what I have in there right now DOESN’T WORK. So I honestly just moved on to other pet projects (yay).
For my current book, I story-boarded on a white board with dry erase and sticky notes so I could move things around, change where arrows were drawn, etc. (It was a very big white board). Then when I had something I really liked, I saved it all in a powerpoint file with color coding (green slides are plot events, blue slides are notes about characters/motivations/world building/etc). So far that’s worked REALLY well for me, and has been the most successful.
It’s so funny, because I can NEVER remember anything out of my own books. I can’t remember plots, I can’t remember certain supporting cast characters. I can’t remember the order things happen in (that’s my biggest one). But at work I apparently remember EVERYTHING — my coworkers seriously think I have a mind like a steel trap, and they’ll ask me random questions about something someone said a year ago and I’ll remember. So it’s like, a totally different person.
I don’t get it.
GREAT post! And I love the pics of your wall 🙂
Liza Barrett recently posted…Weekend Writing Warriors: April 4 #8sunday
OMG. I FEEL LIKE YOU ARE MY TWIN IN THIS. I'M THE SAME. I remember the oddest things and people think I “notice and remember everything” but I really really don't. I remember all this dumb movie trivia or facts about disasters or author's bios…but I legit forget to hang out the washing or put a loaf of bread on for lunch. -_- My memory disgusts me.OMG YOUR WHITE BOARD THO. That sounds terrific, I wish I had a cork-board…because I feel like stabbing my story ideas together would also be very soothing. heeh.
I have written 29 sci fi books all set in my imagined universe. It is tough to keep over 1.5 million words straight.
Woah that’s intense! Good on you for being so invested in your world though!