Not every part of writing looks like writing.
Sometimes it looks like staring into space while stirring your coffee.
Sometimes it’s a long walk with a conversation playing out in your head.
Sometimes it’s driving in silence.
Sometimes it’s gaming, watching TV, or just thinking about nothing in particular—until something unexpected clicks into place.
This is writing, too.
Because your brain doesn’t stop just because your fingers aren’t on the keyboard.
The subconscious does a lot of the heavy lifting—connecting dots, shaping character, testing ideas in the background. It needs time to do that work. And sometimes the best thing you can do for your story is not sit down and try to force it out.
But here’s the important bit:
When those background ideas surface—a line of dialogue, a scene idea, a character decision, a world detail—write them down.
Not because you’ll forget them (though, to be clear, you will).
But because writing them down makes room for more.
Your mind has limited bandwidth. When you trust a system—your notebook, your index cards, Obsidian, the Notes app, whatever—you’re not just preserving ideas. You’re clearing mental space so new ones can take shape.
This isn’t busywork. It’s composting. It’s preparing the soil.
My writing desk is separate from where I game, where I do my day job. So, next to where I work and game I have a laptop, an iPad and a phone, and notes made on those sync to my writing computer.
When I walk, I have my phone with me. I normally have airpods in too, so it’s a few seconds to dictate a note to myself.
Writing when you’re not writing is a real part of the job. But it only works if you respect it—and catch what bubbles up before it fades.
So yes, go for a walk. (put a phone or notebook and pen in your pocket)
Let your mind wander.
Chop onions while working out plot beats. (wipe your hands clean before and after touching your keyboard though)
Watch a dumb action movie and notice how the second act pivot lands.
But keep your net ready.
The best ideas don’t always arrive when you’re at your desk.