Forgive me if I’m repeating old questions. I’m sure you’ve written down ideas on some strange things in the past when you get a flash of inspiration at an awkward time. What I would like to know is, do you keep them, the odd scraps of paper and the like?

I do. I cannot always understand them, mind you. There was one which just had “I thought I heard a chicken scream,” on it. I have no idea why.