Choosing a story idea and sticking to it
Today I'll tackle yet another great question that one of you sent me: How to choose which idea to develop and write about. If there are several ideas jumping around for your attention, which one do you choose?
This is both an easy question for me and very difficult at the same time. Easy in that I tend to have a one-track mind; once I get an idea, it's next to impossible for me to let it go. Actually, any idea I've latched onto that hard, I've never let go of. As I've said in previous posts, I wrote two books that eventually morphed into Raine's story during college and in the next decade after. These were my "starter" books -- I was feeling around, finding my voice, screwing up, and trying to learn from my mistakes. I was also reading like crazy. That's the single most important thing that you can feed your muse -- words. Soak in words like a sponge. And don't limit yourself to just one genre; try others, even those you've never read before and don't think you'll like -- get book suggestions from your friends. Your muse just might devour it and spit out an idea for a fabulous project. You never know, and the results can be surprising, rewarding, and productive. Raine's stories are a combination of my love of fantasy, action/adventure, detective fiction, crime capers, mysteries, and thrillers.
Your muse will let you know what project you should be working on (or at least which project you should tackle first). And if other ideas start butting in, perhaps they aren't different story ideas at all, but parts of the story you're working on. After all, books are made up of lots of chapters and intertwining plots and subplots. So take a close look at those "'new" story ideas, perhaps they're part of the book you're writing. And if after that closer look, you determine that it is an idea for a different project, just write it down in a separate file and keep it and any other ideas that your subconscious comes up with. By constantly pestering you, that's what those ideas are asking for -- to be given some attention, written down, given life. Once you've written down these ideas, I think you'll find that your muse will let you get back to business on the project you're working on.
Upcoming blog topics based on your questions:
Making the magic work, or at least make sense.
How long should you prepare before starting a book?
Are outlines important? Should the entire plot be written out?
How much time should you spend developing a character?
Am I moving my story forward?
How do I figure out what happens next?
Keeping your hopes up while looking for an agent.
Writing in the moment.
"Framing" your book.
Lisa
This is both an easy question for me and very difficult at the same time. Easy in that I tend to have a one-track mind; once I get an idea, it's next to impossible for me to let it go. Actually, any idea I've latched onto that hard, I've never let go of. As I've said in previous posts, I wrote two books that eventually morphed into Raine's story during college and in the next decade after. These were my "starter" books -- I was feeling around, finding my voice, screwing up, and trying to learn from my mistakes. I was also reading like crazy. That's the single most important thing that you can feed your muse -- words. Soak in words like a sponge. And don't limit yourself to just one genre; try others, even those you've never read before and don't think you'll like -- get book suggestions from your friends. Your muse just might devour it and spit out an idea for a fabulous project. You never know, and the results can be surprising, rewarding, and productive. Raine's stories are a combination of my love of fantasy, action/adventure, detective fiction, crime capers, mysteries, and thrillers.
Your muse will let you know what project you should be working on (or at least which project you should tackle first). And if other ideas start butting in, perhaps they aren't different story ideas at all, but parts of the story you're working on. After all, books are made up of lots of chapters and intertwining plots and subplots. So take a close look at those "'new" story ideas, perhaps they're part of the book you're writing. And if after that closer look, you determine that it is an idea for a different project, just write it down in a separate file and keep it and any other ideas that your subconscious comes up with. By constantly pestering you, that's what those ideas are asking for -- to be given some attention, written down, given life. Once you've written down these ideas, I think you'll find that your muse will let you get back to business on the project you're working on.
Upcoming blog topics based on your questions:
Making the magic work, or at least make sense.
How long should you prepare before starting a book?
Are outlines important? Should the entire plot be written out?
How much time should you spend developing a character?
Am I moving my story forward?
How do I figure out what happens next?
Keeping your hopes up while looking for an agent.
Writing in the moment.
"Framing" your book.
Lisa
posted by Lisa Shearin at
6:16 AM
7 Comments:
This is so true - especially about different ideas being part of a book. Some of my wips have had numerous revisions. Turns out the reason I wasn't happy with them, is because a different wip (initially unrelated) is now the prequel to that wip. And a few ideas which I'd left aside because they weren't big enough for a wip, have since morphed themselves into the story of other wips.
It's especially true about reading. I stopped reading a lot when I wrote. Biggest mistake I made. I can't remember what got me back into reading, but the moment I did, my muse went into hyperdrive. Lots of reading = lots of writing. Sure, it takes up time that could be spent writing. However, the ideas it conjures up will have you thanking yourself for taking time out each day to read.
I stick predominantly with 3-4 genres, which are varied in themselves. If you don't like a book, you can always put it back down.
Lisa-
This is very good advice! Reading is SO important. It led me to write things I never knew I would enjoy...not to mention actually be good at.
One thing that you wrote that really hit me was about "different" story ideas that could be about the same book. I think this could be a big part of my problem.
I always write down my different story ideas. It helps a little but I find that my muse is all over the place. Maybe I just haven't hit the right story to tell yet.
Thank you so much for this post! It has really helped me!
You're most welcome, Victoria -- I'm glad it helped!
Lisa, you mentioned reading in other genres. For a long time I didn't touch historical fiction because I'd had some bad experiences with stories that were thinly disguised textbook. But there is one historical fiction writer who just blows me away. Gillian Bradshaw. Everyone should read her book `Island of Ghosts.' (Or anything else by her, but `Island of Ghosts' is my favorite.)
Sorry I disappeared for a while. I hope I'm back now. At least I'm trying to catch up again. {Smile}
Anyway, this caught my interest. I always have several stories vying for my attention, both for reading and for writing. I particularly like your point that they could be parts of the same story. I'll have to explore that more deeply. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Welcome back, Anne Elizabeth -- I missed you! : )
Thank you. It's good to be back.{Smile}
Some trouble with a game on Facebook left me feeling both distracted and less sociable than usual. However, that's now sorted enough, I'm feeling more myself again. So I'm trying to catch up with my usual haunts again. {SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
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