So Many Ideas

[NorCalCumCannon]

I have so many ideas and plot lines that I don't even know where to start.

How do y'all focus on or choose one to go with? And how do y'all organize all your thoughts if you have/had the same problem I do?

 

[hfernandez1983]

Hey there.

Firstly, I dont think this is the place for this post. It's most likely to get moved to the proper forum.

Secondly, I can relate to your dilema. I am a new author and I have a lot of ideas all swirling around in my head right now. I started a nice story that I was really into and at a point decided to stop it. Now I have anew idea and am concentrating on that.

First things, first. Note down all of your ideas. Next thing, pick the one that sounds the most interesting.

Once you decide, just block thoughts about all the other ideas that you have. If you keep thinking about all of them you're just going to go insane. I know there are many authors here (one of whom I work pretty closely with on her illustrated stories) who write 2 to 3 different stories together. You could probably try to multi task by writing part of one story today and then next day work on the other one. Just need to concentrate hard enough.

 

[sexnovella]

Ideas

If you have many ideas then you have either a good story or pieces of many stories so you should try to sort out the things that match or fit with each other.

 

[EquinoxRising]

I have so many ideas and plot lines that I don't even know where to start.

How do y'all focus on or choose one to go with? And how do y'all organize all your thoughts if you have/had the same problem I do?

Hi. Are you looking to throw out your ideas and share them here or are you seeking writing advice?

 

[Hypoxia]

Yes, this thread probably belongs on Author's Hangout... where some of the usual snipers will hijack it for personal squabbles. But until then, I'll give it a shot.

I have shitloads of story ideas, plot bunnies, plot gerbils (fragments that tunnel their way into the narrative), cute titles and first lines, stuff like that. The vast majority go nowhere but into slush piles. Maybe I'll get to them in the future. Maybe.

Edison could have been a LIT writer because he described the process: 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. One must focus and sweat. Extract an idea and start writing it. If it writes itself, great! If you must force it, try. If it goes nowhere... call it research.

 

[LairOfTheCougar]

Well, I do a couple of things. The first is a summaries document, where I note story ideas, titles and the like. For things that are more developed, I've started to create outline documents with character sketches and scene descriptions. The idea is to not lose ideas and develop them in stages.

 

[NorCalCumCannon]

Hi. Are you looking to throw out your ideas and share them here or are you seeking writing advice?

The ones I'm thinking about the most are:
- First time after meeting a woman in Starbucks
- First time having sex with a guy after an online exhibitionist show
- Threesome with a couple after getting told wife likes younger guys at a bar
- Having a transsexual best friend that turns into FWB

 

[TxRad]

If i had a dollar for every plot bunny I've caged over the years, I'd be siting pretty.

Make a story idea folder and jot down the ideas. If they flesh out easily, place them in a future story file. Pluck out the best one and start a story file. Write it until it either gets done or bogs down.

Keep adding to all three files and post what you complete.

After that, welcome to the madhouse of being a writer. Most of us write to get the voices out of our heads.

 

[sr71plt]

I have so many ideas and plot lines that I don't even know where to start.

How do y'all focus on or choose one to go with? And how do y'all organize all your thoughts if you have/had the same problem I do?

I focus on one, make a few notes on the others for when I can get to them (and when I don't, they often disappear) and I don't think anymore about writing them up--I settle down and get busy writing something.

I don't just post to Lit. I publish to the marketplace. So I keep a "Writing Projects List" in my computer, where I list stories, with "write/review/edit/cleanup/publish" identifiers and I bold which step I am in with each of them. They get taken off the list when they've been published. There currently are thirty-nine stories/e-books on this list. If I didn't put something on this list as soon as the idea dropped on me, it's lost. But if it's on the list, it's retrievable unless I haven't given enough of an identifier to remember what I wanted to write. I'm currently making an e-book of something that's been on that list for six years. So, an idea that's even six years old can eventually be written up.

 

[NaokoSmith]

The ones I'm thinking about the most are:
- First time after meeting a woman in Starbucks
- First time having sex with a guy after an online exhibitionist show
- Threesome with a couple after getting told wife likes younger guys at a bar
- Having a transsexual best friend that turns into FWB

That's quite a mix!

I have very little time for writing. Sometimes I write the ones that are short, as I can get them turned around in a couple of days so they will be prioritised. Sometimes I have to write something for a competition deadline. Sometimes I just pick up whichever one appeals to me most in that moment. I don't always know which one that will be.

I was thinking recently that I wouldn't have time to edit my novel, so I'd leave it for now. But suddenly one night, I just opened it up for a read and before I could help myself I was working hard at it in little bits of time I created early in the morning or late at night. So I just went with that.

As long as you are writing, just keep writing. The one which is most important, or its time has come - it's reached the point where you are no longer sketching it out in your head, you really need to put it on paper. That one will come to your fingers.

Good luck! and post a link to the first one you complete and upload on here. (Your signature is a good place for this.)

 

[le_kitty]

I love the idea of being organised and everything compartmentalised, but it takes more effort than it should sometimes, for me.

I get flashes of inspiration from daily things and then as the day continues, I forget it. Though, if an idea sticks... then it really sticks and it will be at the back of my mind every time I open a blank document with the intention to write something new.

I find that when I world build, the entire story is done and come time to write... I hate my writing or I just can't get started. :/

But I like to lightly sketch out story ideas, purely as a form of exercise, whether with pen or paper, or mac/PC and then when I stumble across the idea again some time later, I can't wait to get started and the words flow off easily.

 

[NorCalCumCannon]

Thank you all for the feed back, it's greatly appreciated.

Also do y'all incorporate real life experiences or is a lot just purely off the top of the head? Because I was thinking of doing both or having a mix of both.

 

[le_kitty]

Thank you all for the feed back, it's greatly appreciated.

Also do y'all incorporate real life experiences or is a lot just purely off the top of the head? Because I was thinking of doing both or having a mix of both.

Depends what genre you're writing in. If it works for you, go for it.

 

[Hypoxia]

Also do y'all incorporate real life experiences or is a lot just purely off the top of the head?

Yes. Both.

I've described one of my approaches as painting a detailed, accurate backdrop for extrapolations, excesses, fantasies, and just plain bullshit. That backdrop is transactional as well as figurative, with many plot gerbils and actual events. Some of my writing is straight reporting. Much is wishful thinking. Mash those together to make a usable story containing just enough truthiness.

Example: In Big Banana the settings and biology are accurate; events in the SlugFest actually occurred; but the detailed behaviors are stuff I invented. Yes, it's bullshit, but it's really *good* shit!

 

[TxRad]

I love the idea of being organised and everything compartmentalised, but it takes more effort than it should sometimes, for me.

I get flashes of inspiration from daily things and then as the day continues, I forget it. Though, if an idea sticks... then it really sticks and it will be at the back of my mind every time I open a blank document with the intention to write something new.

I find that when I world build, the entire story is done and come time to write... I hate my writing or I just can't get started. :/

But I like to lightly sketch out story ideas, purely as a form of exercise, whether with pen or paper, or mac/PC and then when I stumble across the idea again some time later, I can't wait to get started and the words flow off easily.

I carry a small voice recorder to rake notes when i think of something and ain't got the time or place to jot it down. I've dictated nearly whole stories on a drive home from work years ago. Of course a drive home or to work was three to five hundred miles one way.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Let's see...

I have over a gigabyte of unfinished stories...all of which I will get around to finishing. Unless a new plot pops into my head and I absolutely have to write it before them.

I also have over a gigabyte of finished stories on my system.

All of which are fairly small word documents, most less than a megabyte.

And I will get to them unfinished ones, I promise.

 

[sr71plt]

Also do y'all incorporate real life experiences or is a lot just purely off the top of the head? Because I was thinking of doing both or having a mix of both.

Most of my stories (except for the ones I've purposely gone for something totally different) are at least sparked by something in my experience. But then I think my experience has been a whole lot more jaded than most--and went on for a very long time.

 

[Gorza]

Like many here, I have a 'bunny' file on my computer. I get lots of crazy ideas, and I try to write each one in the file. Then I don't forget ideas. Each entry is a paragaph. Some are just a handful of words. Others are a rough description of a scene, setting or character.

Sometimes I look at my list and ask myself what I fancy working on. Eventually, you have to pick one and start writing. Go with your gut, or what turns you on most. Most of us start at the beginning, but beginnings can be difficult. Sometimes you have to drop into the story where your head's at, and write what comes before it later. Be prepared to abandon a draft if it's going nowhere. It happens. I have a handful of abandoned stories. It's better to get out early, than have a long, incomplete draft you're unhappy with. Sometimes I come back to an abandoned story, see it afresh and get writing it again. Sometimes I plunder the story graveyard for settings, scenes or characters for recycling in another story. In the end, if you're not writing, you're not writing.

Experience and research are the feed for any story. I have no experience of being an astronaut, so I did some research on the International Space Station to write one of my stories. Most people haven't been astronauts, so I just had to make it believable. If you don't know London and try to research it to believable, I'd be able to call you out on it. The experience side of the input is snippets of stories, people I've met, places I've been. Writing is about stitching together the research and experience so that it doesn't look like some Frankenstein's Monster.

 

[NorCalCumCannon]

Like many here, I have a 'bunny' file on my computer. I get lots of crazy ideas, and I try to write each one in the file. Then I don't forget ideas. Each entry is a paragaph. Some are just a handful of words. Others are a rough description of a scene, setting or character.

Sometimes I look at my list and ask myself what I fancy working on. Eventually, you have to pick one and start writing. Go with your gut, or what turns you on most. Most of us start at the beginning, but beginnings can be difficult. Sometimes you have to drop into the story where your head's at, and write what comes before it later. Be prepared to abandon a draft if it's going nowhere. It happens. I have a handful of abandoned stories. It's better to get out early, than have a long, incomplete draft you're unhappy with. Sometimes I come back to an abandoned story, see it afresh and get writing it again. Sometimes I plunder the story graveyard for settings, scenes or characters for recycling in another story. In the end, if you're not writing, you're not writing.

Experience and research are the feed for any story. I have no experience of being an astronaut, so I did some research on the International Space Station to write one of my stories. Most people haven't been astronauts, so I just had to make it believable. If you don't know London and try to research it to believable, I'd be able to call you out on it. The experience side of the input is snippets of stories, people I've met, places I've been. Writing is about stitching together the research and experience so that it doesn't look like some Frankenstein's Monster.

I've abandoned 3 or 4 stories, and many different drafts of those stories, since I've signed up here

 

[Gorza]

I've abandoned 3 or 4 stories, and many different drafts of those stories, since I've signed up here

That's not failure: it's practice. Sometimes you only know an idea is a dud once you've tried writing it.

 

[TxRad]

I've abandoned 3 or 4 stories, and many different drafts of those stories, since I've signed up here

Sometimes those three or four duds explode into something terrific. Sometimes, they are just duds. Ya never know until ya throw them, as an old sergeant said just before he ducked and covered.

 

[secretLace]

I'm also one of those writers that has too many ideas all the time. They constantly fighting for attention and distract me from what I am currently writing. Keeping a file with snippets and ideas is a must but a really good advice that hasn't been brought up yet is 'keep it short'

If you are like me and constantly have newer better ideas that you want to write don't try and write a long story and then run out of juice in the middle because focus has shifted. I wished I had listened to my own advice since I'm exactly there now with a story that need a third chapter but lacks inspiration.

Try and write the best part first. They just entered her condo after the chance meeting at starbucks and wild sex ensues. Then you can go back and write the good setup maybe?

 

[IvyMarquis]

Most of us write to get the voices out of our heads.

Eyup. There's absolutely no telling what will set off an idea spiraling in my head, and the only way to keep some control over the situation is to write it out. Hell, the thing I'm editing right now was suppose to be a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kinda thing and it's now spiraling into its own little series. Person who edited cracked a joke (or maybe it was a serious suggestion, but oh well) and that set off another spark of ideas that I'll work on after I finish with this one. I'll never get them all down and there's no way for me to know what will click and what won't trigger any sort of a "holy crap I have to write about this or I'm going to lose my shit".

However given how long it takes me to write, edit and post, I'll never catch up.
At this point I'm just trying to do damage control and keep the voices to a bare minimum, haha.

Basically there's no controlling the machine; you just point it vaguely in the direction you want it to go, get the hell out of the way and hope for the best.


Edit;

If you are like me and constantly have newer better ideas that you want to write don't try and write a long story and then run out of juice in the middle because focus has shifted.

I also relate to this; hence why I tried to do a one off, yet somehow it's become its own little thing. My happy medium is it's less a continuous story and more a series of one shots featuring the same characters, that way I can just write what I want to write without worrying about connecting the pieces together.

 

[DreamCloud]

Ideas have no value. People think they do, but they are dreams that are only pleasing to the dreamer.

An implementation of an idea, no matter how poor, is infinitely more valuable than the idea itself.

Stop wasting your ideas!

This has been a public service announcement provided by some cheap bourbon.

 

[sr71plt]

What about the corollary? Stop putting your valuable writing to valueless ideas(?)

(No, I don't like the corollary very much either. )