Writing in the Future?

[Mindfire]

I seem to have an endless supply of ideas to use later, but I'm having trouble getting through the part of the story I'm presently on. And when I finally get to that part of the story I was brimming with ideas for, the cycle repeats.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[Saigonnus]

I usually write what I have ideas for, or am inspired to write, whether it happens to be from something at the end of the book, middle or beginning. I found that it is easier for me to do it that way since I don't really tend to have linear thinking. It can always be reassembled and switched up during the editing process.

 

[ThinkerX]

I seem to have an endless supply of ideas to use later, but I'm having trouble getting through the part of the story I'm presently on. And when I finally get to that part of the story I was brimming with ideas for, the cycle repeats.

Anyone else experience this?

Continually. Typically I'll make a quick note of them in my journal.

My job being what it is, I have ample time to think, but I can't do anything else writing related. So sometimes I'll methodically examine a new idea, turning it over, picking it apart, and putting it back together again. What I've discovered is that while some of these new ideas are very good, most are fatally flawed in some way - at least for what I'm writing.

 

[The Dark One]

ALWAYS write your ideas down where you can find them. What I do is open up a new word file and call it something that will make it findable.

I had been trying to be a serious writer since 1992 and would always jot ideas down here and there - I have literally dozens of such files. One night when working on one of my serious pieces I had an amusing idea for a completely different style of story. Immediately I started a new file and the ideas just flowed. I got into the habit of, at the end of my serious writing sessions, of having half an hour or so working on other ideas and the amusing story really started to take shape. Around 2005 I was totally burnt out. I'd produced quite a lot of stuff and had gone agonisingly close to being published in the mainstream several times - I'd suddenly had enough and just couldn't write for about two years. Suddenly, one morning when walking towards the train station I started thinking about the amusing story again and realised what a commercially strong idea it was. This had never occurred to me before (the idea of targeting a particular market as opposed to the more purist idea of just writing what you wanted and hoping that might appeal to others) and it was quite an empowering thought. I poured myself into generating the draft and the story was so strong it seemed to write itself. The first publisher I showed it to snapped it up and it has been fairly successful. It is the reason I am now represented by a major agent with a new novel being considered by a couple of major publishers.

And yet, if I had continued to see myself only as a "serious" writer and dismissed the amusing commercial idea...in all likelihood I'd still be gnashing my teeth about a cold indifferent world that couldn't recognise my genius.

All ideas are gold. Cherish them.

 

[SlimShady]

Ideas are fuel for the fire. Every writer needs ideas and I always write down my ideas. One day you might find yourself in a slump only to be reinvigorated by a new idea.

I have so many ideas that are in different stages, that I am sure I have enough material to write about for at least a decade.

 

[JadedSidhe]

I fell in love with the One Note that came with Win7. I keep a workbook called "What If" where I write down all of my ideas. Sometimes its just a line or two, other times, it could be a scene or more. Its easy to make new pages/tabs so I can easily sort the ideas if things get too ungainly.

I use the ones that work and keep the ones that don't for another story. I never toss anything out. Even if its a terrible idea, it might work for another story.

 

[Addison]

I seem to have an endless supply of ideas to use later, but I'm having trouble getting through the part of the story I'm presently on. And when I finally get to that part of the story I was brimming with ideas for, the cycle repeats.

Story of my life. A few weeks ago I went through all my notebooks, index cards and anything else I've written on (like napkins and business cards) and sorted them into notes about my WIP and other stories. If memory serves, not counting my WIP, I have more than two dozen story ideas. I'm not keeping up with them. That is to say I'm not working on more than two dozen stories simultaneously. Whenever I take a break from my WIP I spend a few days away from all writing and when I sit back down with my lap top I type any ideas or outlines for the other stories. But majorly I spend time on my WIP. The other stories are like a 'For a Rainy Day' collection.

 

[Lorna]

Yes. I think it's a natural consequence of progressing through your plot like when we progress through time in each new present we're thinking of the future. Not a bad thing because you know you've arrived in a new place further along the line and those ideas are creating your next plot points.

I often find when I get to a scene I was really looking forward to writing I can't get into it as much as I hoped or it doesn't go as I expected. That's when you bring in some of the other ideas your mind's been firing off for inspiration.

 

[The Dark One]

I often find when I get to a scene I was really looking forward to writing I can't get into it as much as I hoped or it doesn't go as I expected. That's when you bring in some of the other ideas your mind's been firing off for inspiration.

This happens to me all the time. I think the issue is that you've had a particular vision for a scene but by the time you get to write it the story has evolved so that the scene won't quite work the way you envisaged.

In my just finished story, I had planned to include a scene where a stalker (the narrator) was inside the house of his stalkee while she was there. In the end, I included something like that scene, but it was different on so many levels - as it had to be to fit with the story as it had evolved by the time I wrote it. It remains a scene utterly crucial to working out the mystery of the story and is probably far more important now than it was in the story plan.

But you have to be adaptable or scenes that you thought were perfect a year ago can turn into dams in the flow of your narrative.

 

[Zero Angel]

I generally write my stories out or order. I write the scenes that are screaming out at me to write them the most, then I go back and try to connect the dots.

I've written the last chapter of the ending of my opus--currently planning a 12 novel series and am only on the first novel! -_- looooong way to go.

 

[ShortHair]

I seem to have an endless supply of ideas to use later, but I'm having trouble getting through the part of the story I'm presently on. And when I finally get to that part of the story I was brimming with ideas for, the cycle repeats.

What you're experiencing is probably the Mind/Eye Disconnect (as I've just christened it). What you imagine never fully translates into the real world. You picture a scene in your mind, and it seems flawless ... until you try to write it down. Unless/until we develop telepathic communication, we're stuck with words and pictures.