Random Book Title Moments

This morning’s coffee moment has me pondering over my desk mess, since I have something like two to-three dozen stories / books in the works, and at perhaps that many story-starts that vie for my attention.

I’ll be actively working on one of my stories and a scene will pop into my head that is totally unrelated to the one I am working on. I want to capture that idea, so I’ll open a new document on my computer and jot down the gist of it, then save it in my “Stories in the Works” file before continuing with the one I’m currently writing. The list grows, sometimes with several events during the course of my writing time.

Most of the time I’ll save what I’ve written about that idea as the title so that I can recognize it at a glance, mainly because I have no idea what to name it at that moment. I simply do not know what is going to happen next; all I know is that the idea won’t let me move forward in my current story.

Having said that, random book titles also pop into my head and my work area is now being overrun with sticky notes with random book title ideas written on them. Yellow and orange Post-It notes and other slips of paper are scattered here and there on my desk, waiting for me to attach them to a story, or begin creating another tale around them.

“Something In the Way She Moves” (one of my ‘home alone’ moments)

“Justice” (a thriller in the works)

“Daisy, The Dandelion” (a children’s story I told to my Littles)

I don’t know if this is a brilliant use of my time or my way of distracting myself from actually finishing any of my current stories.

Is this procrastination on my part, or the way a writer’s mind works?

Off to get another cup, wondering if I could use that as a title:

“Coffee Break”