What To Do With All These Ideas: I'm Still Learning

Do you ever feel like your head is about the split open from all the ideas you've got building up? I know I do.

I've got tons of ideas.

For DARK WATER.

For OPHELIA and BROKEN and their sequels.

For millions of new stories that are begging to be written.

Just the other day, I was watching an instructional video on YouTube and before I was even two minutes in, I'd come up with an idea for a new story. Before the video was over, I had a prologue and the first chapter outlined in my head. And the sad thing is, I was so excited about this new idea, I decided to write down everything I had so far and dedicate myself to starting it right after I finish DARK WATER.

Why is that sad, you ask?

I also planned to rewrite OPHELIA after finishing DARK WATER.

Yeeeeeah....

I want to get OPHELIA written, but this new story (its tentative title is CAGED by the way) is really calling my name.

And that's not the only thing I've "dedicated" myself to working on after DARK WATER.

In fact, here's what my "to be written" list looks like in no particular order:

-OPHELIA rewrites

-OPHELIA sequel

-BROKEN sequel(s)

-Possible DARK WATER sequel (and maybe a prequel as well)

-CAGED

-YA psychological thriller (tentative title: IN HER HEAD)

-YA dystopian (HOME BASE)

-YA fantasy (HOUSE OF DOGS)

I'm determined to write all of these one day--it's all a matter of finding the time.

But not being able to find the time right now is just killing me.

I blame it on all the instant gratification in our society. In the iAge, things happen now and they'd better do it quickly. I mean, I get huffy when there's a two minute load time on the Sims. Writing doesn't work like that.

(This is completely off topic, but I just got the weirdest sense of deja vu while typing that paragraph. Dunno why.)

Of course, assessing blame doesn't help a damn thing. (It sure makes me feel better, though.)

It's up to me to fix...well, myself.

My mindset.

I've been writing for a while now and I've learned a lot.
But I've still got some learning to do.

I'm learning to prioritize and be patient.

Right now, my top priority is, naturally, finishing DARK WATER. Everything else has to wait.

When I do finish and get it polished up, I'm going to take a few days and think really hard about which project I want to start next.

When I was younger, I never finished stories because I didn't have any priorities and no patience to speak of. I'd start a story, write about thirty-five or forty pages in, then get sidetracked by a "fresher" idea and never come back to it again.

Over the years, I've also learned if you're going to start something, finish it.

And when that something is writing a book, you'd better believe you're going to put in a lot of time and hard work. You've got to be determined. 'Cause there are few things more satisfying than leaning back in your chair after you've typed that last word and taking what feels like your first real breath since you started.

And you know what? Despite how this post looks, I'm not complaining about all my ideas. Creativity is a blessing.

My mom (hi, mom! I know you're reading this) often says she's not the "artsy type." I see real amazement when I tell her my ideas "just come to me." I'm lucky to have that. (I'm definitely not going to complain about an over-abundance of ideas when so many other writers are suffering from crippling writers block and have no ideas to speak of.)

That being said, I've also come to realize that first idea usually isn't the "one."

I'm not saying you can't roll with a loose plot idea or small glimpse of the story/characters. If you're that type of writer, more power to you. But after you get passed the initial "just-jumped-into-cold-water" rush of starting a new story, take a step back, look at your plot summary (no matter how loose it may be), and ask yourself, "Can I do better? Is there a more creative route to travel?"

These last few months, I've spent a lot of time staring at my ceiling and digging down into my creative well.

I mean, a big part of the reason I love writing fantasy so much is because I'm free to break away from the reins of reality. Why not use that to its full potential? (While keeping the "just because it's fantasy doesn't mean it can slaughter logic" rule in mind, of course.) Not to say you shouldn't try to be equally creative if you don't write fantasy--you've just got to go about it in a different way. (I don't know what that way is. My creative process is pretty exclusive to fantasy/urban fantasy/dystopian right now.)

And that leads my to the last lesson I've learned recently. Never stop pushing yourself.

Writing is an art. The longer you work at it, the more time you spend practicing and pushing yourself, the better you'll get. And believe me, no matter how good you are now, you can always do better.

On that note, here's a little preview of my next Musical Inspiration post:

(It'll be along the same lines as Oh Boy, Do I Love Ludo.)

What about you?

What lessons have you learned over the years?
Do you ever have idea overloads?

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES