Monday, November 21, 2011

When an idea won't let go

OK. So. Working on a new idea. Might be more women's fiction than YA. Still not sure about that. My brain is trying to make sense of it. I can't wait to see if I can make it work. Like my last YA novel, this one's different. Gonna give it my best shot, anyway. I don't have a choice. This idea has grabbed me with such intensity that even if I tried to get away, I couldn't. I know better than to fight it, so I'll go with it and see where it leads me.

When an idea comes to you, what do you do? Do you roll it over in your brain to see if you think it might work? Do you write an outline or the first chapter? What do you do to determine if the idea has merit? Have you ever gotten an idea that you thought was really great but when you started to write it discovered that it wasn't?

For me, I know I must at least give an idea a shot when it hangs on, when I can't stop thinking about it. Sometimes it's a character and not the idea that won't let go. I'd love to hear your venting process, if you have one.   

2 comments:

  1. Buffy, I've dropped "two great ideas" in the past year, mostly because they had little substance or plot to them when I began to write. (Luckily, I was furiously working on another WIP that made it to the finish line. So these two seemed more like side projects that filled the time whenever I was stuck on the important one.)

    I'm working on a new idea now, and I've done quite a bit of brainstorming and research before starting to write, because I have no other current projects and I really want to explore this one before committing to it. I don't want to find out it was made of cardboard like the others.

    But outlining and notes are just a way to get started. I rarely, if ever, stick to them once I begin to really write.

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  2. Thanks for commenting Dianne. I do a lot of thinking about an idea before I write anything.Good luck with your new idea. I'm sure it will be fabulous.

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