How do you determine which ideas to chase and which ones to put on the back-burner (or let go all together)? What's your process when new story ideas crop up? I'm currently battling this problem right now.... I wrote down enough so that i could pick it up later, but i'm afraid i'll lose the momentum......
It sounds cynical, but a lot of my decision-making is based on marketability. If something catches my imagination and refuses to let go, then, fine, I write that, but if I have two or ten or a hundred equally intriguing ideas? I try to figure out which would be most likely to sell. What can I say? I'm a hack.
Mental calculations on how much I've already got invested into my current story, how hard I have to force work on it, and whether there are obligations I would be neglecting by either continuing on with the story, or swapping it out for another. ETA: Sometimes I also just say, 'screw it,' and do what I want regardless.
Hello. Sometimes I find the story chooses me. I have a few things going on in different degrees of development. Usually I work on the one that yells the loudest. Lately I am trying very hard to stick to just the one story. I plan on finishing it before starting up or continuing on with anything else. I have a secondary piece that would be far easier to write, but my current WIP is like an itch I need to scratch. If I was undecided, I would work on whatever inspired me the most, I suppose. Which I guess is what I am doing. AS for letting it go... I am pretty stubborn... and sometimes ideas can meld into new things. So I pretty much keep everything. A couple of weeks ago, I was ready to throw in the towel, doubting everything I'd already written. So I sat down and wrote out what was troubling me... I named the file loose ends. Then I spent the day figuring out how to weave them back into the story... With a new story, I either jot it down in a notebook, (they seem to come in the middle of the night) or open a new document in word and write out the scene while it's fresh in my mind. Bullet notes are handy and fast when the ideas are more vague.
First I let the idea sit for a while, to see if it drives me to the computer to start writing. Once I get there, I'd say I bang away for a good 2K words or so, and if I'm not enthused to keep going by then I send it off to my abandoned drafts folder. I'll be honest though, I gave up on my last novel at 80K only to pick it up nearly 2 years later. So I don't really feel like plugging away at anything that keeps your interest is a waste of time.
I ask myself this a lot. I have a tendency to jump between projects, as my huge WIP folder will attest. Most of my finished shorts were written specifically for contests, so it used to be as simple as working on whatever I was going to enter. Sometimes I would have several ideas for a given prompt, but then it was just a matter of deciding which one spoke to me the most. All else being equal, I would go for the one I thought I had the best chance of finishing. Sometimes I have good ideas, but just can't find the story in them. These days I'm looking to get published, so I can't just write whatever I want. I'm forced to consider what will sell, and I have to finish what I start. So, I mostly work on the stories that build on original and interesting concepts, where I have at least some idea of the ending. Of course, "feeling" the story is a big part of it. No matter how interesting an idea seems on paper, I don't write things that leave me feeling numb in the process. If a story bores me, chances are it won't thrill the reader (it's important here to distinguish between boredom and frustration, which at least in my head can look quite alike). Whenever a new story idea arises, I give it a fair audition. I write down my initial thought(s), then try to make connections to form the nucleus of a potential project. If what I discover here tickles my fancy, I'll start discovery writing to draw further connections. Then I'll usually drop it for a while and let it simmer. If this fledgling story features prominently in my thoughts, that's a good indication that it's worth pursuing. Depending on other ongoing projects I may not dedicate myself to it straight away, but it's always good to have an idea bank for a rainy day (or perhaps it's better expressed as "creative drought"). I understand this fear very well. I have more than a few stories on ice that I'm sure would have come out well if I had sat down and wrote them then and there. Now I can't seem to get back in the mindset that spawned them, and meanwhile, the waiting list keeps growing... Ideally you'll want to write the story while it's fresh in your mind. That being said, I suppose the really good ideas will keep. This has been the case with some of mine. I guess the ones I'm unable to pick up again weren't quite winners. Or maybe I just didn't try hard enough to get them moving again. Or maybe my new ideas are simply better. Who knows?
I tend to try and write whatever story calls the 'loudest' to me, if that makes sense? I have a lot of ideas, and maybe some of them won't ever see the light of day, but my current WIP has been trying to nose it's way into this other novel I was working on, so I set that one aside and came back to this one.
Everybody's got a different approach to this. I am not a multi-idea person, so when I get an idea I stick to it. There have been two pieces in the past that I started and didn't finish, but that was because the reason for finishing no longer mattered. I started writing a short story specifically for a friend—with references pertinent to her—but she died not long after I started it. There isn't any point in carrying on with it, as the references won't matter to anybody else. There is another one I MIGHT work on again. It's connected to a particular toy (the fantasy story about where it came from.) Now I know a child who might enjoy having the toy (and the story as well.) However, my finished novel stemmed from one idea, a set of characters, and a setting (which required detailed research.) The second book I'm working on is a sequel to the first novel (which is a stand-alone, not a series.) I'm not one of those people blessed or cursed with multiple ideas for different stories. I get one, sink my teeth into it, hang on like The Great Grim Terrier, and develop it till it's done. Only then do I move on—and—as it turns out—not very far! I have no intention of starting research from scratch again. I'm 70 years old, and time is fleeting.
When I need something new to write, I go through my long, long list of "ready to go" stories and pick one. That list is currently 47 books and/or series long. My list of possible ideas that can be expanded into something is hundreds long. I already know what my next 6 books will be (two trilogies, although one may very well be longer). Any idea can be worthwhile if you can make it that way.
I always come up with ideas when I'm working on something else and usually just jot the new ideas down. Sometimes I'll follow that idea and derail the one I'm currently working on - for instance my WIP Falling Child Star started while I was working on another first draft - my prison story In the Pit. I was 1/3 of the way through but to be honest I thought Falling Child Star was only going to be a quick short story. Boy was I way off there. Not wanting to risk derailing my current WIP I've avoided two short stories that I wanted to write just jotting down their outlines and plot details so that I can return to them if I want. I'm totally okay with letting ideas go. I've had so many over the years they could be in and of themselves a book on the stories that never were. Just getting something done can be exhausting enough without worrying did I pick the right one. I would agree with Bayview though if genre's your thing you might want to keep in mind something that's a little more sellable.
When I get new ideas I see if it's possible to work them into whatever it is I'm already working on. And most of the time this seems to work with me. It often changes everything and takes the story in a completely different direction. But I'm not one for saving ideas. If I've got them, I want to use them. This method tends to add unexpected layers to a story. I've never kept an ideas folder or running list. I'm always going to have ideas. So, even if it's not something I can work into a story already in progress, I figure if it's worth remembering, I'll remember it. I'm also not afraid to let something go if it's just not working. That's always a hard call, but sometimes it's the best call.
I love your idea about a loose ends file. I sort of do the same. I never delete anything I write. I will cut something out if it's just not fitting and put it in a separate file. So far I usually don't go back to them. I have a WIP that is 30K words. I started it in 2012 and I'm afraid I may have lost the momentum with it as well. I hope I can eventually go back and use at least part of it. What really stopped me was that one reviewer said they thought the idea was not original. All other reviews had been great so that one threw me for a loop.
I do the same. I have files named the tell pile... which I cut bits out once I figure out how to "show" instead. Also Notes or tidbits to come... lol My current piece is running just over 52K and I just finished chapter 10--so I will have a lot of editing to do. Let me know if you want a beta reader for what you have. Also.. this reviewer... was this someone in the publishing industry? Why does this person's opinion outweigh the others? Once you're done your probationary period post something here. There are a lot of positive people here who will give you a fair and honest opinion.
It's about writing what you love. If you don't love something, you won't put your all into it, and it will be harder than it could be to put the words down on page.
I feel like it's hard to answer this without implying what you should value in a project, which is kind of arrogant, imo. Momentum in writing a new WIP is important, as you mention, but if you're not feeling motivated and there's something else you want to write, perhaps it would be best to change projects, at least for a little while. You might also want to look into *what* is that's stopping you from feeling motivated. Is it a lack of interest in a specific scene or character? If so, maybe those aspects should be cut or changed. As for me, it varies. I used to have a single project at a time that I'd devote my energy to. Diversions or side projects were rare and often small (or didn't go anywhere). I'd write one book, revise and try to get beta readers for it, and each of these projects would be my focus for years at a time. Recently, I've found myself with multiple "completed" manuscripts. Partly because I'd decided to participate in NaNoWriMo for the first time last year and ended up with something I'm quite proud of. But it still left me with several projects to juggle. I had one thing that I wanted to query, another project that I'd been working off/on while revising/waiting for beta feedback on the first thing, and now this whole new NaNoWriMo thingy. I'm still trying to decide which one to focus on, but I've found the stories I've had the longest will feel more "realized" in my brain, which makes me more confident in revising them, and ultimately in trying to get them published. As for which projects to focus on at any given time? I'd personally try to stick with whatever I'd already started, while jotting down notes for other possible projects down the line. If I found my interest for the existing project waning, I'd try to address that (again, is it a specific scene, type of scene, or even a specific character that bogs me down? Cuz if so, a change or even skipping that for now could help you keep that momentum). And, if nothing I tried propelled my interest in writing that project, I'd move on to the next. Maybe in a few months, a year, or longer, you'll realize just what it was that was keeping you from progressing that older WIP (Oh, the story was really about THIS character, or it would work better written as a crime noir rather than action/adventure, or w/e). As with most advice in a creative field, ymmv.
Had this exact problem a few years ago. I never finished anything I wrote (unless is was short) because I'd be half way through a project and inspiration would strike. I'd get a new idea I liked better and end up wanting to work on that one more. I would fully intend to return to my old project, but never would. Then about three years ago I got this idea that I loved and have been researching and putting it together ever since. It's the longest I've ever worked on something and have had no inspiration for other ideas, just this one. I even got sick of this idea and decided to let it sit for a while and write something else. I couldn't come up with anything I liked. And after a weeks rest I'd be fired up about my old idea again. It's been really hard because normally I get my inspiration from something I've read or heard but this was just a fleeting thought. So I now know what it feels like to be really passionate about an idea. Maybe you haven't found one yet that is that important to you, maybe you just think it is? But when you get an idea that just wont go away over an extended period of time, I think you know you've got a keeper. That's my thoughts anyway.
It was another writing forum. I will post. I have been having trouble finishing but I finally got my ending to a short story. I'll post when I can
If an idea is good enough I write it down as an idea file. (Or idea paper like I call them.) If it starts to get some flesh around it's bones, I start a folder where I put more things. There is all the time several folders. Some of them might have 2-3 files with only few hundred words. The biggest ones can have more than 10 000 words. Some of those just want to go forward. They become projects. And inside a project something starts to grow towards SFD - Shitty First Draft. I don't delete ideas. I leave them behind if they can't keep themselves alive. You can see the situation of my pipeline in the beginning of my progress journal if you want to. I have not updated it often enough so it does not include everything new or tiny things. But it tells something.
This made me laugh, because it's the exact opposite of me, but hey, it's nice to see people with different perspectives haha! I write the ideas that mean the most to me in the moment. I joined the forums hoping to express myself in a post-apocalyptic 'sandbox', but return set on writing about different emotions and perspectives of the First World War. To each their own!
