On Shiny New Ideas and Second Dates
Shiny New Ideas are kind of like first dates. ANYONE can behave for one dinner. Anyone can scribble conversation topics in Sharpie on the palm of their hand and seem witty for one meal. Anyone can put on clean underwear, a new dress or fresh white shirt from the drycleaners and look presentable. Anyone can look pretty decent by the warm glow of candlelight.
That's a Shiny New Idea.
But does it hold up to scrutiny on the second date?
Or the third?
When you meet its friends--secondary characters--do you start to scratch your head a little? Hmm . . . I don't know about hanging out with these guys? And that one, I am pretty sure I saw his face on America's Most Wanted.
And then there's that pesky issue of leaving the toilet seat up, not down. [Men: You can reverse that analogy.]
I have dozens of Shiny New Ideas that were just . . . fleeting dates. They looked good until I started analyzing them. Sometimes, you can take a Shiny New Idea and insert it into a new locale. You can dress it up in a tux and take it to the ballet. Or men, for you guys, you can stuff it into a Victoria's Secrets nightie and watch football in bed.
But it's only in fleshing out the idea fully that you discover whether or not it's "the one." I've seen this happen when speaking at writers' conferences. I was at one years ago when a writer said her idea was about a psychic detective. My next question was AND? That's barely an idea, let alone Shiny. And it was New to her, but trust me, that Idea had been sleeping around. Nope, you've got to go on several more dates with THAT one before you know whether or not he picks up his dirty socks.
Thoughts? How do you weed through YOUR Shiny New Ideas?
17 comments:
I had a Shiny New Idea about a man whose home was taken by the state to form a park. I still have that one page summary of it.
Sometimes I think the reason I'm having so much difficulty in writing it is that his world view doesn't have enough proactive in it, he is too passive, reactive instead of proactive. Sigh.
Richmond:
But on the other hand, the path of some is that they start out reacting and then find themselves proactive. I don't know . . . but were there people committing early acts of "terrorism" in that time? Maybe undermining the work in the parks? Being vigilantes? Maybe he gets pulled into something like that.
No, that's part of my problem. The most angry, most proactive person had to be carried out of his home. He wrote to the newspapers, politicians, and anyone he thought would listen. At first I thought about an attempted assassination of the president (as in blaming him since he lived nearby) but I want people to sympathize with my character not be horrified by him.
Maybe you can try a plot brainstorming session with a writer or two, or here on my blog if you want. Lay out your storyline . . . and then see the ideas that get tossed into the ring.
It took me awhile to learn a character is not an idea. Until I figure out what's going to happen to that character, he just floats around.
I just wrote synopses for two books. They're rough, but they're beginning/middle/end with compelling problems and solutions. Those have definitely passed beyond the SNI stage.
I also have an idea for a new sort of apocalypse. I have a character. But I have no idea what HE wants out of this world I'm dreaming up. So no synopsis. It's just a glimmer.
Richmond, have you thought about making your protagonist into your antagonist? I mean, it's hard to be against a park, even if some sap did lose his house... :)
I find new ideas subjective. Some people may think they're banal while others see them as pure gold. I tend to keep my ideas to myself because I don't work well under stale stares and comments. (Like I need any help in the low self-esteem department.)
Starbucks:
That is ALWAYS what happens when I abandon a SNI. It's always about it being only a cool character and not a compelling enough problem.
Kath:
I am trying to summarize my new middle-grade idea, but it, too, is a jumble of thoughts right now, and I couldn't quite pitch it if I tried. I KNOW there's a compelling series there, it just needs more incubation.
I'm not sure my shiny new ideas are bad, per se, as much sometimes as bad for me, or perhaps they need to find a partner or two or mature a bit. I had 2 or 3 ideas over the last couple years that I worked on for 40,000 pages or so then abandoned, but I'm not sure I'm done with them. There's one for a tech thriller that I wrote 20 or 30 pages of and I go back to it from time to time and sometimes it interests me and sometimes it doesn't. I revisited it this week and thought, "Hmmm, it might work if I do..."
Others I know I will get back to, but I've been busy and need to pay attention to the WIP that's most likely to get published.
I often take my shiny new ideas out for a 20-50 page spin to see if they've got the legs to go the distance. Sometimes they just plain don't.
Mark:
Me, too. I take 'em for a ride.
:-)
I have lots of shiny new ideas. I write them as far as I can go and then save them in a file called, "Random writes". Sometimes when I'm bored and seeking inspiration i go back and take them around the block again. Sometimes it blossoms into something good, sometimes they go back into Random writes.
Richman Writer; Something like this was a battle in Long Branch New Jersey. Some people have lived in their homes forever and they want to put some big-bucks condos there. The town wanted to use emminent (sp?) domain to force them out. Fortunately, the town lost. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/long_branch_agrees_to_end_push.html
Aimless:
I have fun opening old folders too. Sometimes I think, "Hmmn, not a bad idea." Other times, I cringe. LOL!
Oooh, I just got a shiny new idea yesterday for a middle-grade book. I luvz it. Most original idea I've had in awhile. It's comedy, so I'm nervous about my ability to do that. I'm better at dark. :-)
Sometimes I do a tarot reading on my new ideas. Things are favorable for this new idea. ;-) The tite and first sentence still has to come to me. Once I have the title and the first sentence, then the rest will come.
And I totally have that sort of excited/nervous feeling in my stomach one has on first and second dates!
Natasha:
First sentences and titles are huge for me, too.
The timing of this post is ironic as last night I started to come up with a shiny new idea. It had been a while so I was happy that one appeared.
Not sure if it has legs yet, but I'm excited about the possibilities.
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