3 Tips For Managing New Ideas
After a fantastic week spent with my family, I'm back to sleeping in my own bed and trying to get back on schedule! And after trying to cram as much awesome food, shopping, and experiences as possible into one 9 day stretch, that got me thinking about a problem I'm notorious for: overwhelming myself with too many story ideas. If you're anything like me, you find that the inspiration and early conception of a story comes much easier than the fully rounded plot and characters needed to take it from a daydream to a reality. And if I'm being really honest with myself, that's one of my biggest stumbling points when it comes to my writing. I'll start working on an idea I was obsessed with, but before I ever finish cranking out a manuscript, I start dreaming up new ideas that suddenly seem so much more intesting than what I'm already working on.
Now, I guarantee I'm not the only writer who goes through this. I'd even take a gamble and say that most writers probably experience this inspiration roller coaster to some degree or another. And I also don't think it's an entirely bad thing - I'd rather have too many ideas than not enough! But the real problem for me is learning to keep those bright, shiny, new ideas on the back burner while I actually try to finish something. And I've been taking some steps that, so far, have been working pretty well for me!
1. MAKE A LIST
If you're already keeping track of your inspiration, this probably comes across as a no-brainer, but for anyone who hasn't tried their hand at listing out their story ideas yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot! For a long time, I think I became so obsessed with new ideas because I was afraid I'd never remember it by the time I finished my current story. How you keep your list is entirely up to you, of course. Right now, I have a dry erase board on the wall beside my desk that I keep a short list on. There are four written down currently with a fifth that needs to be added. And for me, the list is as simple as a couple of words to remind me of what the general concept was, like "Angel + Demon" and "Swan Lake" to pull a few off my board. But if you need a little more than that...
2. STICKY NOTE YOUR DETAILS
For a few of my ideas, the simple one to three word title reminder wasn't enough. Particularly for the few that were stories I kind of started before reigning myself in to focus on one thing at a time. So for those, I've started utilizing color-coded sticky notes to highlight just a few of the most important points about the story. Right now, my sticky notes include brief character blurbs - their name and a few quick words to describe them - and a couple of research notes I wanted to be sure to look back at when I really get into the story. Obviously you don't have to use sticky notes if they're not your fav (bullet points do the same thing!), but I find they work well for keeping me organized and concise. All I want here is to remind myself of a few pre-determined details I liked so I have a solid starting point later on. And if you really just can't help yourself...
3. WRITE A LITTLE BIT OF IT
At the end of the day, if you just can't stop thinking about your new idea, and you can't get anything written for your current project because of it, stop fighting the inevitable. Open a new word document or pull out one of your notebooks and spit out the scene that's driving you crazy. Now, I say scene because that's how 90% of my ideas come to be - smack in the middle of the damn story somewhere with a specific scene that I just can't get out of my head. So when all else fails, I'll sit down and write out some or all of the scene that's getting to me and then save it for later. You may find that it never fits into your story, or maybe after getting that bit out, the characters don't speak to you anymore. And if that happens, that's okay! Maybe you have a skeleton scene for another story at your finger tips. Either way, words written is important, and you may find a place for those words down the road.
This is just a very small list of the things I've been trying at home, but the important thing here is to find a way to corral your new ideas so you can actually work some of them into fruition. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who can work on multiple things at the same time - lucky you! If you're not, give these a try and let me know how they work out for you. Or, better yet, if you're already doing something that's working well for you - let me know! I could definitely use all the tips I can get!
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