I love swipe files. In my case it's more of a combination of a swipe pile and collection of swipe bookmarks, but anyway....
If you're not familiar with swipe files, it's basically a collection of information that you can use for inspiration in your writing. Here are some of the things I keep in my swipe file:
- Magazine headlines if I think the format is interesting and worth using as a model at some point in the future.
- Articles on topics I plan to write about, which I can use as source material or just a reminder to cover the topic (like bookmarking an article on a writer I may want to profile in the future).
- Links to things I may want to feature or review, such as books, software programs, or even Web templates or blog plugins.
That covers the bulk of what I keep around to inspire me when I'm having a tough time writing. What do you keep in your swipe file?
Newspaper human interest stories and letters from the opinion page give me good nonfiction topics to write about–or “characters” for my fiction.
My swipe file is basically a collection of quotes and topics I want to write about in the future. I also keep sources — links to clippings, pics, etc. — which I could peruse at a latter time. Thing is, I add to my swipe file constantly but haven’t exactly made anything off of it!