Ideas, Ideas, Everywhere

Turning my writing focus from my kids’ book to Young Adult fiction means that I’ve been back in the full-on “ideas” stage of writing recently.

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 :-)

Faffing v. focusing - gyroscope or laser beam?

I have a pretty short attention span and can often lack focus.  In my defence though, if something really grabs my interest then I can also get totally absorbed and super-focused.  Just one of the many contradictions in my personality!

Obviously this is not a good thing when you’re a writer – working on your own, with no deadlines or bosses to keep happy (at the moment, anyway!).

The negative effect of lack of focus struck me anew recently when reading “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.  This image captured how I’ve been feeling recently:

“Many people are like gyroscopes, spinning around at a frantic pace but never going anywhere.”

I always have lots of things going on in my life!  Good things.  Great things!  I’m often super busy.  I’m very good at getting distracted by interesting things – there are so many! - as well as new challenges/projects.

Rick Warren continued, challenging me and bringing about a light bulb moment (pardon the pun) ;-)

“The power of focusing can be seen in light.  Diffused light has little power or impact, but you can concentrate its energy by focusing it.  With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can be focused to set grass or paper on fire [or in the case of my son, his brother’s duvet cover!!].  When light is focused even more as a laser beam, it can cut through steel.

There is nothing quite as potent as a focused life, one lived on purpose.  The men and women who have made the greatest difference in history were the most focused.”

Now, I am writing my book and working at becoming a writer.  And I will definitely get to the point where this manuscript is as complete as I can possibly make it (whether or not it gets published then is largely out of my control).  BUT, I would get to the finish line with it a helluva lot faster if I got more focused!  Too many other things still butt into the time that I set aside for writing – and that amount of allocated time isn’t as generous as it could be.

When I actually sit down and write, it’s great!  Surprisingly great!  In fact, last week I added a prologue that I’m thrilled with, made the first chapter more punchy and exciting, and incorporated a diary device that adds depth to an important few days that were previously skated over a bit fast.  If I got focused and made that amount of progress every week then I would have been finished about 3 months ago, easily!!! 

Although I can be very emotional, I’m also very cerebral.  If I something clicks for me mentally then that’s that, problem solved.  This section of “Purpose Driven Life” feels like it’s provided clear insight for why I’m not moving forward with my writing as I want to.  You might be thinking it was super obvious and I guess it is, but it’s still useful to have it spelled out:  

“If you want your life to have impact, focus it!  Stop dabbling.  Stop trying to do it all.  Do less.  Prune away even good activities and do only that which matters most.  Never confuse activity with productivity.”

Simples, right?!  I feel like I know what practical steps to take to improve the situation, but better than that I also feel more determined rather than just powerless or hopeless or useless.  And I need to be determined coz I love dabbling and I love trying to do it all :-)

It's not the only area of my life that needs more focusing. Lots of different aspects of life could benefit from being more focused.  If you want to win a race then you focus on the finish line, rather than looking around at the other runners.  If you want to get good exams results, you focus on your revision and exams, rather than the social stuff you’re missing out on.  If you want to lose weight, you focus on your goal weight and not on the biscuit tin!  Fixing your eyes and mind on your goal, and going for it whole-heartedly, is going to make a much bigger difference than meandering your way towards it ever could.