IAN'S IDEAS

Most writing group tutors will advise it. And most writing group students will ignore it.

But here's some top-level affirmation.

Speaking on Times Radio, author Ian Rankin said he was a news junkie and was forever taking notes from actual events to help with his writing.

He has a folder on his computer called - wonderfully - Ian's Ideas!

If someone says something interesting in the pub, he'll scribble it on a beer mat and transfer it to Ian's Ideas asap.

When the time comes to begin a new book, his first stop is usually the ideas folder.

I imagine that, after sitting for a while, the ideas lose their real-life associations and become something a little purer that a creative mind can weave around.

I keep my ideas folder on my phone. Some fold prefer an old-fashioned notepad.

But, really, if you're a writer, you should have one somewhere.