Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Questions for Writers

What do you do when you have a bunch of story ideas in your head?

Do you grab one and run with it?

Do you jot all your ideas down?

What happens if you're working on one story and another one is pestering you to be written? Do you stop and write it? Or do you continue on with the current one?

If you write a bunch of them, do you find it hard to keep in character?

I have at least 5 really good ideas in my head right now. But, I can't seem to concentrate on just one. I keep flipping between them, writing whatever is coming to me at the moment. It's exhilarating at times, confusing at other times. I'm excited by all of these new possible books, I find myself wishing I could write faster or that there was more time in the day. Maybe one day, one or the other will happen :)

9 comments:

  1. Great question! Sometimes I just jot down all the ideas stalking me then pick the one that is screaming the loudest. I will also stop working on a project and work on another if it is taking away from what I am currently working on. It depends on the day and the project. I did find out that although I can work on lots small stories or articles at the same time, I can only work on one novel at a time. Lesson learned.

    I checked out your books on amazon. Which one is your favorite?

    ctny

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  2. Oooh, that's a hard question to answer :) LOL! They are both my favorites. I would say Natalie's Story is my "baby" though (probably because I love a lot of drama - in my books or movies - not so much in real life). It really depends on the amount of drama you like.

    Natalie's Story has a lot of drama - she falls in love with the bad kid, goes through finding out she's pregnant, getting beaten up, having injuries, and turning to alcohol.

    Teagan's Story doesn't have as much drama, and no violence. It's about a girl with epilepsy and her struggles in a new school, with new friends, and trying to find or be normal. Of course, for her being normal includes falling in love.

    Thanks so much for checking out my blog and my books! I've already downloaded the sample of yours.

    Talia

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  3. Ooh-ah! Great question! and nice to know I am not the only one plagued by this. If you are like me there is no off button and I usually come up with my best ideas while commuting to and from work or in the shower, or where ever. Like you I have several plots simmering in my mind at one given time, this matches the hundreds of notebooks I have that I fill with these ideas. I always have a main story I work on, but it never stops me from brainstorming about my others so I always carry a notebook everywhere, I strike while the irons hot. When I return to my other ideas I find I have made a heap of progess by accumilating all the ideas. But I try and concentrate souly on one project at a time so it doesn get too confusing, but at the end of the day our at times pesky characters call the shots (well in my world anyway) C.J

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  4. CJ - I definitely don't have an off button and always get ideas when it's least convenient. I, too, carry a notebook with me everywhere. I'd be lost without it.

    Mysteriousrose - Thank you so much. I followed you back, can't wait to read some of your reviews!

    Thanks.
    Talia

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  5. I have this problem sometimes. I have a document that's nothing but story ideas. When I get an idea, I jot down all my thoughts (characters, story line, even scenes). It can be as much or as little as I want. Then I leave it alone and go back to my original work. When I finish (as if work is ever finished!), I go through my ideas doc and pick a new concept to start on.

    That way I get the ideas out of my head to make room for what I'm focusing on. I don't get confused by stories and characters, and I keep the information I want to use it for later.

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  6. Good idea. I'm not sure if I could be disciplined enough to stop. I do have an ideas document, but some times I can't just stop and the "new" story ends up taking over.

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  7. New follower here! :)
    I'm actually dealing with multiple idea issue right now...I just finished writing my first YA novel, Wasteland and it's going to be a trilogy so I'm laying the groundwork for the next one. But I also have another idea for a vampire novellas series, and staying in character is tough because both of the female protagonists are pretty kick ass.

    What I've found is that I have to really focus on one or the other, and flesh out what each character means, because when I get to the bare bones of it, while they're both very strong, opinionated young women, they have two completely different tones.

    So for now I'm focusing on the novelas, and when I finish that I'll go back to the trilogy. :)
    (also, really cool layout!)

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  8. Another new follower!

    I'm a "stick with it til it's finished" kind of a girl. But I have a notebook and that's where all the new ideas go for when I have time to work on them more.

    Sometimes I find that what seemed like a really great concept will lose its lustre after a week or two - and some just seem to get better and better. Those are the ones to develop.

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