So Many Ideas So Little Time

Clamp down on the feverish indecision. Subdivide your ideas by form and content -- which ones belong to the same overall world -- which ones demand novel-size, which ones are short story/novella materials. You'll end up with theme groups like 'fantasy', 'sci-fi', 'today's world', or something along those lines. Inside each group will be stuff for different lengths.
Assign the remaining weeks of 2013 to write 2 - 3 short projects, and starting Jan 1 2014, start a bigger one. Do not cram all possible ideas into it. When you cut them - remind yourself they can always be resurrected in short stories or sequels.

I have that problem. I usually just let them figure it out. Think about the different stories, make notes as appropriate, and when one particular idea jumps up and demands to be written, start writing. Just keep writing. The longer you go in indecisiveness, the more stories build up in the backlog.

Then start one letter at a time.

If you are afraid you will forget your idea, write the basic idea on a flash card and then put the flash card in a drawer, a basket, a box, etc. Somewhere you can find it again, but only after you have completed your current project.

I have all the time in the world with NO ideas. No ideas that are worth the effort, anyway. Spare me some!

tri

Try another hobby and then, one day, if you feel like writing again, do so and see what happens.

From your questions I'm beginning to wonder if you are more in love with the idea of being a writer and talking about writing than you are with the idea of doing any actual writing.

Rinji said:

Thanks. I have already written down all the ideas I have and where I want to take them. And I have an idea of what story I would like to work on, now I am just having problems with where to start the story.

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Like a flat car accumulator -- you have to push the car until the inner energy kicks back in. The accumulator being the muse, while the pushing being forcing yourself.

Force yourself!

Have a stiff drink. Outline the idea in detail, scene by scene, movement by movement.

Have a stiff drink. Turn the first outlined scenes into prose.

You have regained momentum. Continue, without the drinking.

dondomat said:

Have a stiff drink. Outline the idea in detail, scene by scene, movement by movement.

Have a stiff drink. Turn the first outlined scenes into prose.

You have regained momentum. Continue, without the drinking.

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Or if you're like me and fall asleep after too many stiff drinks (especially on days when you're in the creative zone and you've forgotten to feed yourself) then drink a lot of tea or coffee. I'm pretty sure my creativity is relative to how much tea I've got flowing through my veins*.

*Tea in your veins? But that's not how biology works, EMaree!

Well, it is if you're an steam-and-tea-powered robot. Which I'm not saying I am.... but there's this barcode thingy on my arm. 3MAR33. Odd coincidence, that.

To the op: how old are you anyhow?

How would you like to be in late middle age and feel this way? Ideas constantly appearing every time you read a book, watch TV, look out a window, have a conversation with a friend? Well, that's typical for a writer or creative person - that far-off look as you daydream and get caught in your own story while your sister/husband/child is saying: are you listening to me??

So pick one idea and write it. That's really all you can do. But keep the others coming and jot down notes about them if you're fearful you're going to lose them.

Because time will run out. It runs out for us all.

Rinji said:

I have so many ideas in my head that I don't know which one to start with. I want to work on all of them but know that doing that is not the best idea for me. Sometimes I wonder why I have so many good ideas in my head at the same time. I want to work on all of them and I know eventually I will since I wrote all the ideas down in a word document as story ideas for later but I don't know which one to start with or really how to start the story to begin with. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone have this form of writers block or am I the only one? Anyone have any ideas to help me get started?

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Hey here. congrats on desire to write.
I know your feelings very well, i have tons of ideas.
BUT after i wrote first draft of my first novel to the end(before i started a lot or had drafts but never finished any), i saw how swallow and unoriginal are some ideas i had, in the perspective beside the finished draft of a story that i never expected to be the way it came - i saw that the past me as a writer, who had tons of ideas, and the writer i am now who has finished draft, - current me is farther now.
and i wrote this certain story to the end because it was revolving in my head for way too long and i had already tons of alternative outlines of it, so i knew if i keep it longer be just in my head, the story will fall apart completely. maybe for some better ones but i am too nostalgic for it i i had to hurry and keep it in one piece. in the end, of course, the complete 1st draft is not the way i expected it to be.. surprised me in a good way.

in general i got to finally writing complete drafts because i wanted to make money on writing(before i was too hesitant to start, was scared to ruin anything.. and wasn't actually thinking of becoming writer.. those were just ... stories?? so idea of earning money on something you like to do for fun made me focused to start actual writing). for a long period i was trying to choose between few ideas - 1 fits popular genre, another fits genre that is relatively easier to write than the others, one more is really interesting to write but needs too much research. but i chose the 4th, which was a little bit of both and oldest of them, kind of one of the oldest ideas i had in general, though it was faaaaar from mainstream. but now i know it has strong potential, cause it turned out to be a thriller..

oh and yeah, actually i just managed to write first 4000 words in one day for this draft, while other ideas which i tried to work on simultaneously, didn't go well, like no more than 1000 on each AND in few days.


So, just start with the story that you can write instantly, the story you love the most or even rather the story you know how it is going to end, that what helped me. my current one was more developed than the others though i have no clear idea how it is gonna end, i knew about how it is supposed to be until the middle.
and the best thing is to forget to write for the market and think how much it suits genre etc. write everything comes to your mind, do not edit until you finish first draft. finished? go for another story while this one takes some time to be forgotten. after few weeks start second draft..


ahh, i've just read you are picked a story and are not sure how to start it? well, do you have an idea for beginning? write the closes to beginning scene any how, just the words that come to your mind.
you may find out in the middle of writing later on that this scene is not the beginning. but do not be tempted to rewrite anything until you finish first draft. first draft is okay to be the ugliest thing you ever wrote.
it doesn't really matter how you will start it. the most important thing is to start it at all. you are not writing final product now and not even close, so do not be afraid to write down anything that comes to your mind. sometimes you can be surprised how amazing and rich can be the scenes you were writing the moment the thoughts were flowing.

good luck, hope it helped.
yeah i am far from experienced writer, but for me starting the story was really hard, so i was really surprised that the best thing is just trow away idea that you must write good and that everything must at least be nice sounding. f**k it, i even forgot comas and made stupid mistakes cause i was writing fast(not to mention i forgot character names and didn' want to look back, tempted by changing something, just wrote similar names xD). i do not regret it and i proudly admit if it weren't this ugly way, it wouldn't be written at all.

right now i am going to read my first draft after a month of finishing it. i am scared because the story is sicker than i expected, but i am thrilled because i remember it came out pretty well and interesting.

ok sorry for answer being too long. paradox, but my draft that i planned to be 120 000 words ended on 55 000 xD.
good luck fellow writers

Glad I could be useful
good luck, wish you to write a masterpiece

Rinji said:

Thanks. I have already written down all the ideas I have and where I want to take them. And I have an idea of what story I would like to work on, now I am just having problems with where to start the story.

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Does it matter if you don't start it at the right place? That's what rewrites and editing are for. Five minutes reading the SYW forums should show that even when we're convinced we have the perfect place to start we're probably wrong anyway, so why worry in the first place?

Are some of the ideas more complete than others? I'd go with the most complete one, as long as it's still exciting.