Sunday 25 November 2012

Resisting the Shiny New Idea


One of the first things that many writers get asked is “where do you get your ideas from?” Some authors get so tired of this that they come up with amusing answers like “K-Mart, twenty-five dollars for five novel ideas, they have a sale on, better get going!” Perhaps the people that ask are wondering if writers pull these ideas out of thin air, or have some elaborate ritual involving the sacrifice of a non-reader (my husband better watch out, since he limits himself to the instructions on a can of Chef Boyardee). Or perhaps writers get together every year and go on an African safari type trip, hunting down the wild idea, armed with only notebooks and pencils.



The fact is every writer is a bit different. New ideas may straggle in a bit at a time, the last bits like late party-goers who shrug and say they got stuck in traffic, or they may bust into your mind fully formed, intrusive and demanding your attention.



Personally, I tend to get the latter, and though I love being absolutely pumped to begin writing, I face a very difficult problem – one I've heard other writers complaining about as well. Imagine you are sitting at your desk typing away, the book you’re working on is almost finished – or maybe it’s only halfway – and then suddenly…wham! An idea hits you like a smoking comet.


Good, right? You can jot it down, put it aside and work on it after you’re done your current book. Or…you can try. You put the notes into a drawer and turn back to your work, but something seems to be in the way of your computer screen. Oh, it’s that genius idea that keeps popping up, hopping around like a ferret on caffeine, eager to tell you that it would be way better than the story you’re writing now. It would be more fun to write, it would make more money, and your agent (or the agents you are querying) would like it better. There are a million reasons you should stop writing that book and start on your new book.

This has happened to me twice now, and what I’ve realized is this: if I give in to the urge and put down the old idea, and pick up the shiny new idea, it’s immediately gratifying (it is, I gave in once). However, if I continue to act in that pattern, it stands to reason that I will NEVER FINISH A BOOK AT ALL.




So the next time this happened, I wrote down the idea, stuck it in a drawer and then shoved the insistent thing to the back of my mind (quite violently I might add). From there, I continued to write my book, finishing the rough draft. I thought that when I’d done that, and told myself firmly that I was NOT going to be starting that other story, that somehow the idea would cease to niggle in the back of my brain. That it would lie down like an obedient little doggy and go to sleep until I needed it.  It didn't.  It continued to wag and bark and run in circles, nails clicking on the tiles, tracking mud over the insides of my brain. It was driving me crazy.






For those of you that suffer from SNIS (Shiny New Idea Syndrome) there is hope.  You have to power through the first draft of your original (and the current idea will stay shiny until at least halfway, until three-fourths of the way if you’re lucky) and then when you’re finished the first draft, you have that time, the time where you put the rough draft in the drawer in order to gain a little perspective. Most writers do this anyways, those that don’t have the symptoms of SNIS. We leave our work unread, sometimes for months, so that we can come back to it with fresh eyes. The good news is that when that manuscript is sitting in the drawer becoming more and more foreign to you, you have the opportunity to break out that shiny new idea and finally use it.

I am beginning to learn a number of coping techniques, or ideas that will help me ignore that shiny idea for just a little longer while I finish the last bit of my current story. Writing every new facet of that new idea helps, every bit that comes to you, make sure you write it down. I believe that a part of what makes writers itch to begin it immediately is the fear that they might somehow lose it. I'm scared the ideas might slip away and never return, leaving me bitter and confused. 






So write it down, power through the first draft, keeping in mind that you WILL get to use that shiny new idea, but have patience. Remember that the story you’re working on NOW was once a shiny new idea, try to remember what you felt for that idea when you first had it, the enthusiasm. Rekindle the romance, don’t dump your old idea for the handsome new one. Not yet.
What about you, do you have any tips for powering through and finishing the old idea? Are you a sufferer of SNIS? If so, how do you cope with it?




18 comments:

  1. I've come to realize that this is a horrible habit. Horrible, horrible, horrible! But I just can't shake it. Hopefully, this helps, and I'll finish my current project. x) As for tips on how I cope... I don't. SNIS attacks me at random. And I'll just scribble the idea down and carry on my merry way down distraction lane. Of course, months later I'll go back to my original project, wide-eyed and in awe of the fact that I ever had this idea. The equivalent of SNIS will attack me again, and I'll abandon my shiny new idea for my old one. D: I'm stuck in a loop!

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    1. I used to do the same thing, but now I learned I don't get anything done if I let myself wander down "distraction lane" <-- I like that, by the way. So now I force myself to power through the first draft. I'm hoping with my current SNI it will be different, because I'm so excited about it. Try to pump yourself back up about your old idea so you can finish!

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  2. Oh my gosh- I'm right with you there on this one! I have literally five notebooks filled from cover to cover with new story ideas, along with basic outlines so I don't forget! It's great to know I'm not the only writer with this HORRID probelm!!

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    1. You're absolutely not alone! I too have notebooks jammed full of shiny ideas! :)

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  3. I do this ALOT if you go on wattpad and look at like five or more storys i start but never finish, it drives me crazy, every once in a while i go through and write a chapter here and there but never finish what i started. I hate when this happens and what i do is write the 'new' idea down and make it into a chapter asking what anyone else thinks of it and if they like it, it makes me want to write more of it. I then dont go back to my 'old' idea and finish it. But i suppose that one day i'll have all my 'old' ideas etheir complete or in the back of my mind fading away...




    ~GabriellaScarlett at Wattpad.com

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    1. I think that's what I'm afraid of (them fading away). For wattpad I try not to have more than two stories going at a time (though right now I'm bad and have three) it's just too much.

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  4. That was a great blog article! (I don't know what you call these things...)

    I actually don't struggle from this as much, I have almost the opposite. I come up with new ideas every now and then, but they only stay exciting for a day. I begin writing thinking this is the best idea that I have ever found, and come back to it the next day and think it's worthless.

    This means that the most I've ever written on the same story was about 6 types pages (that idea stuck around for about a month) and then the next time I read it I think it's awful, or it doesn't make sense and then I spent ages trying to edit the tiny bit I've written, or change the entire plot in the middle of writing it.

    Any ideas? I long to be a published author, but while my plots don't work, and I stay so self-critical, I can't finish a book! Help! ^^

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    1. I would suggest thinking about that shiny new idea a bit longer before you start writing. Let it snowball in your brain, getting larger and larger and more exciting. The more genius ideas you come up with involving that particular idea for a book, the more excited you'll be, hence the "shiny new" stage will last a lot longer. Try outlining your story completely, doing character profiles, maps, ect. Until you know your story front and back. That should make it real for you, and make you really want to write it (and keep writing). And don't worry about having an "awful" first draft. That's what a first draft is. You get it all out, reread it and sigh over how terrible it is, then you do another two drafts and keep polishing it until it's actually pretty. ;)

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    2. Thank you! I'll do my best to give that a go :D Also, I love the fact that you give everyone a reply. ^^

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  5. I have the same problem too. I probably have a couple of notebooks which have one or two chapters containing a great story, then I'd have a new idea and either skip a few pages ahead to write that one or just use a new notebook. It gets really annoying but at the same time I learn few things about the type of story ideas I get when re-reading past written works.

    So that's how I usually solve it. Not a good thing. I try extremely hard to finish one story before going to another, which is difficult as I am quite an impatient person. But I will keep your advice in mind.

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    1. I find it difficult too. It's hard having a creative, busy mind and trying to concentrate on just ONE story line and group of characters! I think that as writers keep writing they learn more and more about themselves and how they can deal with the distraction of SNIS. ;)

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  6. If I get a new idea while writing a story, I do just shelve it away until I'm finished with the current story. After that, the new idea just seems like any other idea.

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    1. You must have stronger will power than I do! Maybe you're not as flighty and excitable, haha. I am VERY easily distracted.

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  7. I'm glad I read this before SNIS has ever happened to me...when it does, I'll make sure to resist the temptation!

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  8. SNIS, sounds kind of wonderful... I have about... 17 "rough drafts" of one idea that has been hounding me for 9 years... 9 YEARS.
    I suffer from perfectionism. My coping mechanisms always fail, because I put it away, and when I return I find three new things I hate, so instead of fixing those three things, plus the ones i hated while writing and just kept going anyways, I rewrite the whole thing... Thusly... 17 rough drafts. 4 Banker's boxes full of the same manuscript.. It' a horrid loop, that I will hopefully eventually break...
    As for SNIS, never had a case of it.. ever... hope I never do, it's bad enough with just this one book... two scares me..

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    1. Oh, perfectionism can be the downfall of authors just as much as SNIS though! Sounds like you need to force yourself to stick to a number of drafts (most authors do four or five at the most)edit ONE manuscript instead of rewriting, and then send them out to beta readers. Writers have to cope with the idea that our book is never ever going to be perfect, we can only polish it up the best we can before we send it out. Otherwise you'll never finish anything!

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  9. Oh my good golly gumdrops! SNIS is my biggest problem when it comes to writing. I currently have nine novels going (all with less than 15 chapters because I can never make it far before a new idea hits me....) because I keep getting hit with new ideas! Hopefully the tips you gave will help....

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    1. I hope so too! Glad I could help! (And good luck!)

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