Managing Endless Story Ideas: 006

Endless Ideas

I’ve been writing for nearly thirty years now and the one thing I’ve never been short of is ideas. Much like the endless backlog of games I’m never going to play, pile of unread books which is growing rather than shrinking, and films still in their shrink-wrap years after buying them I’ve got more stories to tell than time I have to tell them.

New ideas come to me all the time. I’m inspired by so many things and my brain never stops forming new characters, settings, and situations. I’ll probably come up with a new idea while I’m writing this article.

That’s not a boast. I don’t believe for one second I’m alone on this front. Plenty, if not most creative people, come up with more ideas than they can truly explore. It’s part of being a creative person. Ideas beget ideas. Everything and anything can be inspiring. There are stories everywhere waiting to be told. Idea’s grow and change shape and suddenly that short story you were planning has become a trilogy of novels you need to write… which then has spinoffs! It’s natural.

But is it also a weird problem?

Is an endless well of ideas a blessing or a curse?

Spoiler Alert… for me, it’s an absolute blessing. I love having all these ideas constantly popping into my mind. Developing all these stories in my head and on paper. Creating all these different characters and situations. It’s what I live for.

But… it does come with some interesting things to consider in order to get the most from it.

Managing What’s Next

The biggest decision for me is always, what’s next?

Throughout my scriptwriting and now book writing career I’ve mostly written on spec and self published. I’ve done a little bit of work for others, written to assignment and other people’s deadlines, but I didn’t enjoy it. It wasn’t for me and was short lived. I much prefer being in control of my own writing, and with that comes the responsibility of making my own decisions about what to write next.

I generally start the year with a rough slate in mind of books I want to write and stories I want to tell. A slate which maximises my time and energy. Creates work people will read. One in which I have maybe already considered the marketing for. And, most importantly, is full of ideas I’m happy with and believe in.

However, the slate’s not written in permanent marker and laminated.

I’ve learnt to be flexible down the years because new and better ideas can come from nowhere at any point. I’ve worked on whole outlines and written hundreds of pages of notes only for another idea to skip the queue when the time comes to write my next piece. I’ve learnt to trust my instincts.

I don’t purposefully deviated from my curated slate, but I like to always be writing the thing I’m most excited about next. And sometimes, that’s not the thing I was most excited about a month ago. A week ago. Sometimes even a day ago (There’s a story there for another time) It’s not a case of being indecisive but rather, as mentioned, listening to my instincts.

But there can be a cost to that…

The Difficulties of Managing Endless Ideas

What I’m most excited to write next may not always be what’s best for my career and self publishing business in that moment. And that’s when the hard choices need to be made. Where right and wrong can take on different meanings.

It’s easy to throw around phrases like the art should always come first. That sounds like the poetically noble thing to say, but anyone serious about self publishing or running their own creative business in any form knows there’s more to be considered than just the art.

For Example:

Image having an idea which you’ve worked on and are happy with. Then when the time comes to write it the genre (subgenre) is doing extremely well in the market (or nowadays is popular on TikTok) You’ve accidentally hit upon a trend (hate that word) It’s a great opportunity, especially as you’re ready to write this book.

But… then there’s this other idea in your mind which has quickly taken shape. It’s feels like an amazing idea and the characters are practically writing themselves. It’s all formed so damn quickly and you’re incredibly animated about it. It feels like one for you rather than one for the current market, but holy hell are you excited to get started on this one. It’s bursting out of your head ready to fall fully formed onto the page.

So what do you do?

You can write both eventually, but will you miss that window of opportunity on the original idea? Will your excitement for either idea fade? Will you write one while you keep thinking about the other and therefore not produce your best work? Will you keep swapping between the two and end up fucking up both? Is one longer or more complex so the editing costs will differ… will that factor into your decision?

It’s difficult.

Consequences of Endless Ideas

I’ve missed that window before when the book would have preformed a lot better but I choose to write something else for myself instead. The idea which excited me more. Financially, it probably wasn’t my smartest decision. It may have even delayed building a stronger readership by months. Years perhaps.

But, given the same choice, I would have written the one I was most excited about again. The one which didn’t do as well, and maybe cost the other work while I was at it.

I’m not going to say I did it for the art. Or because I don’t care about the business side of self publishing, because I do. I want to make a living as a self publishing author. And I’m not going to even say I made the right choice because I think that point is very debatable.

I made my decision and stuck with it because I personally always want to write the thing I’m most excited to write. No matter what. It’s how I write my best work. Maybe I should have a little more business sense. Or have backed my original idea because I was clearly excited about it at some point. But that’s not how I work. I want to be successful, but I want to be happy with what I’m writing more.

It’s a difficult balance, but one I like having. I like dreaming up and developing new ideas. Having an endless supply of them sprout out of nowhere. But, big decisions do come with this endless supply.

There are pro’s and con’s. Blessings and curses. And the decision of the work you’re most excited about, versus the one which makes the most business sense is perhaps the biggest of them all. It’s fantastic when the two align, but sometimes you need to make Sophie’s choice.

Current and Future Writing

The reason the above subject has been on my mind is the novella I’m writing, Alice on the Air, is getting closer to completion. I’ve been rewriting and editing the chapters as I go so I’ve almost finished the second draft now. I’m still going to take my time with another draft but part of my attention is drifting to what’s next.

I have several ideas in mind ranging from a Neo-Noir story to a western, while I also have plenty of science fiction and horror ideas always rattling around in my head. I’m leaning towards the Neo-Noir after writing a short story recently in the genre and getting a bit of a taste for it, but the other horror ideas are more developed… and I’m keen to write more science fiction.

I’ll wait another week or two before I decide, but I need to make a decision soon if I want to publish another book before the end of the year.

This weekend I also started work on a novelette (or possibly long short) By the time I post this the first draft should be done, but will need tidying up with a couple more drafts. It is a fun idea and one I look forward to sharing when it’s ready. I might write more about it next week.

I’m pleased with how the subgenre articles I’ve wrote so far have been received and hope the whole project continues to grow. Alongside those, my second short story was published on my Website and Substack this weekend: State of My Kitchen.

It’s a bit of a nastier one than I’m intending to write going forward because it’s something I wrote a few years ago. Hopefully it will get the same sort of love Terraroid’s had because that’s had some nice feedback.

How Else Did I Spend The Week?

I spent the rest of this past week largely reading. I finished the Preacher Graphic Novels and started rereading the Darren Shan Saga. Between the pair they’ve taken a fair bit of time but I really have enjoyed reading of late. It’s become a part of my daily routine.

Preacher was as awesome as ever. It’s one of my favourite graphic novels and a story that has everything. I really got into the relationship between Jody and Jessie more this time and the dynamic is something I might touch upon in a future piece. I also forgot how well Cassidy would have fitted into my Assholes and Saviours post.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read The Darren Shan Saga. Maybe close to twenty years. I find some of the writing a little simple but it’s a great story with so many interesting characters. I’m already straight back into the world and thoroughly enjoying it. I can’t remember all of it, but have been doing that thing where you remember it just before it happens. Those ‘oh yeah, I remember now,’ moments.

I’ve watched a couple of films this week too. Clint Eastwoods Pale Rider, and Jackass 5. Needless to say they were two very different experiences. I won’t talk much about Pale Rider as it was for a future subgenre piece so I can go into more detail then. But Jackass 5 was really good, much better than the 4th instalment. The nostalgia was strong and the cinema was packed with everyone enjoying themselves.

This Coming Week

At the risk of repeating myself this coming week really is about writing more of Alice on the Air, although I’d like to finish the novelette too. Hopefully I can balance the two.

Then at the weekend I’m doing some paid photography work. It’s nothing I can show on here as it’s for an end of year rock show where all the performers are kids (I can probably post some photos of their tutors performance though) This will be my fourth time photographing the event. It’s always a difficult day as I have to make sure I get a good photo of every kid and there’s normally seventy to hundred taking part, but it is fulfilling.

I don’t know much photography nowadays thanks to my health but it’s a nice reminder of the gig photography I used to do pre-covid and before diabetes starting making everything difficult. It will be a fun day.

Stephen