I have this problem...

So, I come up with these amazing ideas, things that I know would make great novels if I could just follow through with them. The problem is that I have this horrible habit of getting only a few pages into a story before deciding that I hate the idea and it will never work.

Lately, I've had some really good ideas. I've jotted down snippets of thoughts and dialogue, and even gone as far as doing some research. However, I'm afraid of actually writing anything, because I don't want these ideas to meet the same fate as everything else I have written.

Does anyone have any tips on how to overcome this and actually get something done?

 

I actually am having this very problem, so I'll tell you what I've been telling myself.


Just write it.

Don't worry if it's crap, just sit down and write it. Don't worry about all the messy details, get the basic jist of the story down- solve names and plot holes later. I've been planning this one story for nearly a year, and not until this weekend did I say,"Screw it" and jumped write in. I may not even use the scene I'm writing about, but it's given one of my characters a voice, along with various other little things.

You can revise, and revise, and revise- just start writing.

You don't get gold my just mining it, you have to purify it first.


I am curious to know your ideas too

 

"It's perfectly okay to write total crap... as long as you edit brilliantly." -Cj Cherryh

I'm probably paraphrasing a bit, but it's close enough. Lot's of proffessional authors say the same thing. Worry about getting the story down first, and polish it later (in the hundred-odd rewrites you'll probably engage in 'til your ready to show it to someone).

I have lots of book-starts lying around, and I have to take long breaks sometimes before I can start writing them again. It's perfectly normal. Just make sure that you do go back and work on them eventually.

 

I know the feeling...

I have the same problem. I will start off pretty well, somewhere in the middle of a story with some idea that I think is pretty good. I will go through and write like 7-10 thousand words, and then I dont know maybe I get bored because I knopw what is going to happen. Then I question everything I have written, decide that none of it is believeable, decide that I cant possibly write the correct beginning to start it off, decide that i need to get to the point, and then I end it way too soon, and dont give a good climax or forget anout the part after the climax, and then I add it to the scrap heap to never be seen again.

Once in a while I will go back and start editing and the process starts all over again. It is all very depressing, because i know the good ideas atre in my head, and I know that i want to get them out, but i just cant seem to do it. it is pretty rare that i finish anything.

I agree just keep writing. ther more you do it the more you will be able to not have the problem, it just takes time, patiencwe and sticktoitness. *All things that I am still learning myself, after too many years to mention)

Did you ever consider bouncing your ideas off of someone, and trying to develop an outline from the discussion of the idea, you know "I have this great idea about a woman who gets murdered in the park"

and someone else says, well gee, why was she going to the park?
well she wasnt going to the park, she was going to the store, but they found her body in the park, etc.

maybe someone else prompting you along might help you get enough out there to expand and keep expanding iuntil you have a workable strory with enough meat to keep you going...

But then again, this might just be the ramblings of a lunatic...

foxbrains

 

Yes, I do that same thing.
I think something is an awesome idea and then, later, I'm thinking "this is the worst idea ever concieved by man, how did I ever think this was a good idea?"

Or, if, for whatever crazy reason, the idea persists to appear to be a good idea then I think "This really is a good idea, but I don't have good ideas...I must be subconciously ripping this off from something!"



I think it's just part of the writing process...if seems like a "bad idea" all of a sudden, try and think of what made it seem like a "good idea" in the first place and what's making it a "bad idea" now. Then make changes accordingly.

 

Declare to yourself, when you start the book, that alot of things will be to be revisited at the end and revised. Just keep writing!

 

Obviously this is a universal problem.

I always solved the issue by writing on a whim as opposed to planning a story extremely well. I used to write knowing an exciting scene was coming up and so I got bored of the current scene and the trend continued until I eventually got bored of the whole story. So these days I like to keep things fresh - form a new idea, jot down a couple short notes and then rip into it.

 

whatever you do DO NOT throw out things you have started.
you may wake up tomorrow and find that it really was a fantastic idea and be able to finish it.