I don’t know how many times it’s happened that I just had to write down a paragraph-long idea for a story, that ended up turning into pages of background and further story ideas or an out-and-out story (or chunk of one).  Gene Wolfe’s 800+ page Book of the New Sun started out as a novella.

Articles and reports can start out the same way.  Sometimes all you need is that little push to get going.  Or a little chunk of info that can inspire you later when you’re refreshed.  Or something that you can look at and say, “Okay, at least I did something,” so that you can quit worrying.

Many’s been the time that I’ve written down the basic idea of an article and a few of my ideas or opinions about it, even though those ideas and opinions didn’t seem worth much.  But when I came back to it, the ideas either gave me more ideas on what to write or how to write it.  I.e. they sparked further research or else gave me a better angle and viewpoint to write from.

And speaking of fiction, it’s been a long day.  I think I’ll go relax with some Clark Ashton Smith.