Ever have one of those brilliant ideas that fade into vapor, never to be reached again? Oh, I just had one of those last night. I know, I know, I should always keep a pen and paper by my bedside. I think I had a dream where a story idea came to me, and I consciously remember thinking that I needed to remember the idea. I’m pretty sure I fell back asleep or never really fully roused myself to begin with, sending the idea back out into oblivion. Perhaps I can train myself in the art of lucid dreaming and attempt to retrieve this idea. Alas, I think it is gone.

This is one of three very memorable occasions upon which I have lost seemingly-significant ideas. One was driving in the car on my way home from work at midnight. I think I saw a shooting star and “just like that” the celestial sighting overshadowed the idea and when I went back into my mind to retrieve it, it was long gone.

The second instance was also in bed. I woke with a full set of lyrics and tune in my head. I had never really considered songwriting, but this song seemed, at least to my REM-induced head, complete. I remember getting up and writing one of the most important lines of the song on a piece of paper. To this day, I have no idea which piece of paper I used or where it ever ended up. Of course, by the time I woke the next morning the tune was also washed away. Even if I would’ve remembered it, I have absolutely no talent for translating tunes in my head into real music.

I need to think of some sort of strategy to harness those ideas so I won’t lose out on that Pulitzer. (Funny, those ideas probably weren’t that great to begin with, they just seemed crucial to remember after they were gone.) Either that, or I need to invent idea insurance.