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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to keep a one line idealist. When you

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Speaker 1: hear something that sparks your thinking, write it down. It's

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Speaker 1: possible that it just might come in handy someday. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip comes from prolific novelist Serena Bowen. From her interview

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Speaker 1: for this podcast last year, Serena explained that she's always

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Speaker 1: on the lookout for ideas she finds interesting, such as

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Speaker 1: things she reads in news stories that capture her attention

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Speaker 1: for some reason. Perhaps it's a police case that's solved

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Speaker 1: in an unexpected way, or a couple that meets under

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Speaker 1: truly bizarre circumstances. Serena says it is wise to recognize

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Speaker 1: ideas that intrigue you and to find a place to

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Speaker 1: record these ideas, or to keep them close. As she

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Speaker 1: puts it, Serena has a page at the back of

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Speaker 1: her planner called one Line Ideas. Sometimes she will write

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Speaker 1: a book that has its seed in one or more

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Speaker 1: of these little musings. But even if you are not

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Speaker 1: a novelist, it pays to keep track of ideas that

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Speaker 1: interest you. Serena explains, what you write down are those

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Speaker 1: things that tickle you for a second. She says, it's

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Speaker 1: the act of stopping to say hold on, that's different,

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Speaker 1: that's speaking to me. So, for instance, a teacher might

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Speaker 1: keep track of bizarre news stories and use the situations

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Speaker 1: as short story prompts. A person who loves to entertain

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Speaker 1: might keep track of ideas for decorps, food, or waves

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Speaker 1: of fostering interactions among guests. A poet or novelist might

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Speaker 1: keep a list of images, situations, or insights that captured

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Speaker 1: her attention. Even if you don't have a specific outlet

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Speaker 1: for the ideas in mind, I think there can be

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Speaker 1: value in recording interesting ideas anyway. Keeping a one line

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Speaker 1: ideal list can make you a keener observer and can

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Speaker 1: foster reflection or imagination. You might be able to start

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Speaker 1: interesting conversations with people or draw new connections when you

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Speaker 1: see something else in the future. There's no need to

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Speaker 1: make this list fancy. You can keep it in a

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Speaker 1: notebook or on your phone, perhaps in Apple notes. As

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Speaker 1: Serena explains, the benefit is simply in the act of

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Speaker 1: stopping recognizing moments of interest and meaning, rather than just

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Speaker 1: plowing through your day without much reflection. Maybe the ideas

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Speaker 1: you save will end up serving as seeds for your

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Speaker 1: work in the future, but regardless, they'll make you more

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Speaker 1: sensitive to life as it is going on. If you

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Speaker 1: try keeping a one line ideal list, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear about how you track your ideas and what you

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Speaker 1: do with them. You can reach me at Laura at

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Speaker 1: Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeart, please visit

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Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.