Seized by an inspiring idea for a new writing project? Don’t just sit there. Grab a pen and some paper. Capture the idea before it drifts away.

The late Madeleine L’Engle once noted that when an idea for a new project taps you on the shoulder, it’s inviting you to birth it. Here are a few simple strategies for fleshing out your idea once you’ve captured it.

1. Consider whether fiction or nonfiction treatment best suits the inspired idea.

2. Determine the best form for it–screenplay, novel, nonfiction book, stage play, or poem.

3. Figure out the heart of the project and begin working on the form it will take. If you believe it’s best suited as nonfiction, you’ll need to flesh out the focus, slant, and factor (s) that distinguish it from other projects already in the marketplace. For fiction, consider what genre it would best fit (that in turn will determine length, style, and other critical elements specific to each genre such as mystery, romance, young adult, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.).

4. Do some brainstorming. I like working with a bubble chart. My main idea goes in the middle of the page inside a bubble. Spokes radiate out into tangential thoughts triggered by the idea. This technique works well for a mystery novel, for example, that needs a few suspects and motivations for them.

5. Consider whether your inspired idea could be the base of an “empire” of information, pieces of which could be spun off into multiple stories or a series. Or, would your project fit into an already existing series of books?

6. Develop a dynamite synopsis if your idea is for a novel; create a killer book proposal if the idea is for a nonfiction book. For a nonfiction project, indicate the nonfiction category such as self-help, how-to, home/garden, cooking, psychology, history, travel, photography, biography, child-rearing, autobiography, memoir, hobby, sports, and health and wellness, to name a few.

When I got the idea for a mystery based on my real-life farmette dramas, it came after I’d had nearly two dozen nonfiction books published (some were sold into an existing series such as Adams Media’s “Everything” series of books).

I’d also established a blog and had been building a brand based on my life renovating the old farmette. My first novel–A BEELINE TO MURDER–sold as a three-book contract and featured my Henny Penny Farmette brand and a farming milieu.

Working professional writers don’t wait for inspiration to strike. That said, they don’t take it for granted. Most will at least capture the idea. That way, if there isn’t time to go to work on it immediately, they can revisit it later.