Come to think of it, 95% of my ideas for writing come at moments when I am nowhere near the computer-- so I always carry scraps of paper and a pen or pencil with me, wherever I go. When something "comes up," I pause for a moment and scribble... and then go back to what I was doing.
The "problem" with this kind of system is that I never seem to find the time to actually sit down and make the number of notes in the box diminish.
On the upside, I do manage to sort things out from time to time... and I often discover that (over a period of years) the same basic ideas come up, over and over. And that's a good sign that I should probably take the time to develop them further.
On the downside, a lot of ideas come up "in the heat of the moment," and I end up sitting at my desk, contemplating what I was actually thinking, when I wrote the note in the first place. WHY did I think that was such a great idea? No idea...
I guess it's just part and parcel of being a frustrated writer that I never have time enough to sit down and develop my ideas when they come up. I easily have enough material for three articles (or more) per DAY... but I don't have the time to do anything with them. "Time," of course, is a nebulous concept... the truth is that I don't have the money to take the day of (every day!) to develop my ideas...
