What To Keep On Your Desk

The older I get, the more I forget. My theory is that as you add years to your life, you also accumulate a lot of clutter in your brain, kind of like all the boxes of junk upstairs in my garage.

There are lots of tricks for remembering. There's the traditional string around the finger thing, though I never understood how you'd remember why you put the string there in the first place. I skip that step and go right for writing a note on the back of my hand. But with so many things to remember about writing, that could turn into a full body tattoo.

So I've come up with some handy dandy reminders to stick on my desk--and I'm not talking 3M Post-its. Too traditional. Go for tangible items.

Disclaimer: I don't recommend you put all these trinkets on the ol' desktop at one time. You wouldn't have any space for your computer. So put them in a drawer and pull one out daily for a fresh memory jogging experience.

Keep a bottle of Drano on your desk to remind yourself that if you don't write daily, the words will clog up in your head ... which has been documented to cause a nasty case of writer's block.

BONUS: If/when the cleaning mood hits you, you'll be prepared and/or ready to commit suicide.

Keep a small, stuffed elephant on your desk to remind yourself that writing a novel is just one bite at a time. Sitting down with a simple task of writing 1,000 words gives you a whole different perspective than slumping in your chair with 90k hanging over your head.

BONUS: If a small child interrupts you while you're writing, you've got an instant diversion to sidetrack the kid.

Keep a mousetrap on your desk to remind yourself to write snappy dialogue. No one likes to read boring conversations. Keep the reader guessing what in the world will come out of your characters' mouths next.

BONUS: You'll be ready for a tiny mammal invasion of your writing space.

Keep a rock on your desk to remind yourself that even a particularly scathing critique and/or review probably has at least one nugget of truth in it.

BONUS: You can chuck said rock through a window and feel instant gratification (but only if it's your neighbor's window, not your own).

Keep a Bible on your desk to remind yourself that God is still--and always will be--in control ... even when no one answers your e-mails, even when when those answers aren't what you hoped for, and yes, even when you finally land a whoppin' big contract.

BONUS: Crack open the cover and you'll find relief from the most devastating rejections--plus forgiveness for breaking your neighbor's window.

Keep a supply of dark chocolate on your desk because...well...just because.

So...what do you keep on your desk?