At its heart, this is a very exciting time, especially as I LOVE brainstorming and running after new things. My brain is always flying off on tangents and into a myriad possibilities, so this time should suit me down to the ground and it does. But…
Having too many ideas can quickly become overwhelming. That can then easily translate into paralysis and indecision. And so, despite the loveliness of being able to constantly brainstorm and muse over exciting new ideas, I’ve found myself floundering as well. Coming up with ideas isn’t a problem. Deciding which idea to pursue is the difficult thing.
Originally I wanted to write something that I’ve code-named CAF. It’s a fairly big idea – a quest story, with identity and some spiritual stuff at the heart of it. So, I had decided to put that to one side for now so that I can get experience writing YA on potentially easier projects, before tackling what could be a more major one. But on the other hand, it’s the story that I feel a real deep passion for, so why not just get on with it?
However, with that uncertainty, I’ve also been considering what else I could write. Ideas come from everywhere and anywhere, all the time.
When I was at the lunch table at Swanwick, the lady I was sat next to misunderstood my friend’s name slightly. This sparked off thoughts about a potential story idea around choices and gifts.
When I was at a Major Incident Response Group training module last year, we were being taught about CBRN incidents, and as part of that we were talked through the official response. It completely grabbed me and immediately presented itself as thrilling matter for a story. I sat there scribbling down as much detail as possible as fast as I could, which must have looked pretty funny as no one else was bothering to take notes!
Another area I’ve always found fascinating is cloning – not in the serious scientific sense though, but more the personal and psychological impact and repercussions of it. I’ve got an idea for that that’s initially quite fun, but then becomes more serious and chilling. It has the potential to be expanded as a standalone story or I could embed it into the CAF story.
Sooooooo many possibilities!
I watched Robert Harris on Breakfast last week, talking about his new book “An Officer and A Spy”. It’s a fascinating and thrilling sounding story, but it was how it came about that particularly interested me, given where I’m at at the moment. He went to Paris to meet Roman Polanski and talk through an idea he had for a new story. Roman (or should I say Mr Polanski? I have no idea about social etiquette, I just like to be friendly!) had on his bookshelf several books about Captain Alfred Dreyfus. They started talking about it, Roman said he’d always wanted to make it into a film and Robert decided to work with him on that, writing it as a novel first and then translating it into a screenplay.
Great tale, but I wanted to know more! How much did he have to consider following that story rather than his original story idea? Was it an easy decision or did he take a while to be convinced it was the right way to go? Has he put the original idea aside to come back to in the future or decided not to bother with it ever? I guess my underlying question is – do all authors suffer from indecision about a potential idea or do they just “know” when the right one presents itself?
I’m off on my Arvon YA course tomorrow and I’m sure that lots more potential ideas will pop up during the week! However, I’m pretty sure I know which of my existing ideas I should get on with and pursue first, although doubts still bubble up about whether or not it’s the right choice. They probably will for some time.
At the end of the day, writing anything - even if it turns out to be a naff idea ultimately or never gets published for whatever reason - is still valuable practice at writing. I can’t spend my time going round in circles trying to work out which idea to go for rather than writing, coz to be a writer you have to write (not think)! Time to go and read my previous post on focusing rather than faffing, and then just get on with it :-)
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