Thread: Too. Many. Ideas.

Does any one else suffer from this?

I want to write but I'm so torn on what to work with. I have three completely different ideas in mind and it's hard to work on all of them because I feel like I'm neglecting the others or wasting time a little.

One's a futuristic type thing showing the gritty side of a distant future.

The other is a medieval fantasy set in a different world. Set to be a big story.

And I also have a vampire idea, I know they are over rated but I actually think that it is a unique story. This is my less developed though.

How do I choose which one to take forward and develop?

x

Hi Waste.
I’m the same, I have only recently started writing my first novel. I haven’t decided yet whether it will be 1st or 3rd person. So, I’ve written about a 1000 words of each, both starting at different points. In the meantime, I wrote a bio for a small character in the book and have decided that this character is too strong and deserves his own series novels. His first story is having a swim around my brain!

This week, I came across the beginnings of a script I had started a while back and left because I wasn’t sure where it was going. Today I wrote the first act.

I too want to be a writer, so, I write. Start all three and go with the one that gives you the most interest at that moment

Post Script
Forgot, I also have a SiFi surfing around my brian that comes in with the tide every now and then.

I have similar issues! Mainly, this involves deciding what section of my planned novel series (divided in two, possibly, three triliogies making up a saga) to write first, which character to give attention to, wondering if I should pursure the small screenwriting ideas that randomly pop in my mind...etc.,etc.
Sonofjoe, I do something similar where I try to write down ideas that stand out ASAP, then as I review either the resulting story or the notes I can decide if I want to keep it or not. Currently I'm conflicted over who should be protagonist in my current project, and which part of my saga to work on (logic says to start from the beginning to avoid a total Lucas move but my feelings fall to the final part of the series where a Christian werewolf is the hero.)
Well, good luck, I can tell you one thing, the right option will soon appear.

i'm torn between new ideas...and another is forming in my head.

I have loads of plot for my novel laid out in my head, but I keep getting ideas for short stories and writing them up. There is also a file that is an accumulation of ideas that will go to make up another novel someday and an idea for a comic poetry book, and here I am wasting my time ...

I used to have the same issues. I would skip from project to project; never finishing anything, the tone of one writing work would bleed into the other. What I ended up with was a whole heap of first chapters, story ideas, bits of dialogue and interesting notes that never amounted to anything. I know some people work on multiple projects at the same time; however that just doesn't work for me. I often lay in bed dreaming about my next project, plotting the story, molding the characters, wanting to write that book instead of this one. I fight off the urge though, sometimes it's been hard, and I’ve almost started writing something else a couple of times. The payoff though is I can see something real and tangible forming before my eyes, bigger than anything I've written before.
So just plot your stories out, do whole outlines if you need to. I'm sure it will come to you during that time which is the first you'll write. Put the others away and go for it. Remember, they'll all get written, just some sooner than others.

From a practical standpoint, if you want to get anything done, I think it's a good idea to buckle down, focus, and finish one thing at a time. If you're having trouble picking which project to pursue, hmmmmmmmm. . . put pieces of paper on a wall and throw darts at them? jk, really don't know. Might come down to just picking one.

Yes! I'm always a bit dumbfounded when people say they want to write but have no ideas. I have ideas to spare. (But I'm keeping them all for myself. ha ha!)

I currently have 4 novels and about 10 short stories in the works. I suffer a bit from non-finishers syndrome, but I'm working on it.

Originally Posted by caelum

From a practical standpoint, if you want to get anything done, I think it's a good idea to buckle down, focus, and finish one thing at a time. If you're having trouble picking which project to pursue, hmmmmmmmm. . . put pieces of paper on a wall and throw darts at them? jk, really don't know. Might come down to just picking one.

Teachers were always telling me to "Buckle down" they seemed to think it was funny for some reason

Originally Posted by Motley

Yes! I'm always a bit dumbfounded when people say they want to write but have no ideas. I have ideas to spare. (But I'm keeping them all for myself. ha ha!)

I currently have 4 novels and about 10 short stories in the works. I suffer a bit from non-finishers syndrome, but I'm working on it.

Ah I so have that too!
I also have hundreds of ideas and many that could be novels already started. I have narrowed it down to three that I'd like to work on, and they all have their pros and cons for starting on them. I mean I am in love with the characters I have developed for the vampire book, I think I'll do some work on that one tonight...

I will work with the story that is strongest in your head first. I have a story where the character is loudest but the story is a bit ambiguous and I don't have any solid plot to put her in. Hopefully as you write the story the characters will speak more loudly too you.

I've done the same thing as you for years.
I have:
A story set in a somewhat-timeless (1300-1890s all anachronistically thrown together) alternate universe England-type country called Ferrinene about a rogue-type character who through a strange twist of fate ends up as the crown's pawn.
A modern-day (if not a teeny bit futuristic) story that throws sci-fi and greek mythology all together to tell the tale of those marked by the stars to save humanity from it's own undoing in 9 separate dimensions.
A story about a time-traveler that's pretty underdeveloped.

And 3 collaborative stories with a few of my closest friends.


My advice: Work on them all! When you get sick of one, the other suddenly will become more interesting. While it may take longer to get them all finished that way than if you were to solely work on one until it was done, you'll enjoy it more, and your writing won't be forced.

Here is what I think, (and I should take my own advice. ha ha), one story at a time is the best way to complete it. I like the “keep those thoughts in a file and return to them later method.” I need to remember to do that as well. I have many ideas jumping around in my head keeping me awake at night, and I have fallen prey to half writing first chapters and not getting on with the one that I have worked on for about five years. It is nearly complete; it just needs editing...Which I might add is another problem for me. I tend to keep going back and editing instead of just getting it all out there first. Ideas are not hard for me. Getting finished is. Motley and the others said: "I suffer a bit from non-finishers syndrome, but I'm working on it." That is exactly a description of me. Just keep on Writing!