Something
My signing went incredibly well . . . a line of 100 librarians . . . face time with marketing (amazing people!) . . . a dose of culture at the National Gallery. Cocktails with two old friends.
So I'm wrapping up Magickeepers III, and like a bolt of lighting, I know what I want my next middle-grade book to be. Not only do I know it . . . I KNOW it--though it's more young adultish . . . and it's Something.
You see, we all get Shiny New Idea Syndrome from time to time. But then there is a process whereby you determine if SNIS is really like getting the flu. Or it's Something, a for-real idea you can use. Generally, what that means for me is I start working through the ins and outs. I see if I can come up with a elevator pitch, and then I wander through the plot in my mind. I see if the character in SNIS is unique. If I've got SOMETHING. And not just Something . . . Something different, Something that would make a room full of people say, "I can't believe no one ever came up with that before." If not, it may lurk in my brain for a while, but it goes to the great SNIS garbage pile as in "A kernel of an idea, but not growing into Something."
Not this time.
And oh-my-God . . . I turn in MKIII in a week . . . and I already know what I will be typing away on.
How do you determine if a Shiny New Idea is "Something"?
19 comments:
I usually Google it and pitch it to some friends and then discover that there's already some crappy movie with the same plot. ;)
Jude:
LOL! I know!!! :-) I have been the recipient of a pitch or two of yours. ;-)
Whenever I come up with THE NEXT GREAT IDEA, I try to forget about it. If it keeps popping up in my thoughts, then I really try to forget about it. If I'm still thinking about what a great idea it is two weeks later, I figure I'm on to something.
Then I throw it onto the queue with all the other NEXT GREAT IDEAS.
Throw it at the wall and see if it sticks.
Yay for shiny new ideas!! Ideas that I stick in a folder may become something, but if I have an idea, and start ruminating about it immediately, that's when I know that I have Something. That's fabulous that you have something in the wings! And congrats on getting to the finish line with Magickeepers III!!
Oooh ... Now I'm dying to know the idea!
Alan:
This one is quite loud!
Mark:
Ahh, spaghetti technique.
Heather:
That sounds EXACTLY like me. I have an idea folder, but it's the one that says RIGHT NOW, LADY, that tends to let me know it's Something.
JVZ:
Will email you.
Googling it is a great idea. :)
I post a pitch on my blog, I run it by friends via email and in person.
Like right now I have an idea, even a few pages, but I don't have a pitch nailed down. When I do, I'll let a little light shine on it. :)
Starbucks:
I just ran my idea past two buddies.
Congrats on the new idea!
When I get one, I run it by Melanie to see what she thinks. She helps me talk it out.
Speaking of shiny new ideas, I think it's time I got a new one. *waits for it*
nadine:
She's a good one to bounce ideas off of! :-)
I fall head over heels with my hero and spend every waking moment talking and spending time with him, LOL. In other words, when I start ignoring the people I'm with to have a conversation in my head with my character, then I'm sure it works.
One of these days I'm going to be committed, I just know it.
Natasha:
I am in love with Aleks, my hero. I chat with him often, trying to understand him since he is by nature taciturn.
:-)
I'll have the room next to yours in the sanitarium.
I just wrote a comment, and then blogger ate it. GRRRR
Moving on...
I don't share my ideas. Not because I'm afraid someone might steal them. Ha, if only. But, I prefer to avoid the banal looks. You know? It's like asking your husband if you look fat. People will say, "Oh, that's fabulous," although their faces say, "Are you f**king nuts?"
Hi Kath:
I sometimes hate pitches too early for that reason . . . it's not a fully gelled thing.
E
I came up with a shiny new idea in December, have written the first four chapters, and haven't gone back because I'm still editing my other novel, but I still LOVE my SNI. LOVE IT. That tells me it's something.
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