It’s my turn to write something brilliant and inspiring, and all that’s in my head is an idea that occurred to me while watching Fright Night (the original) for the millionth time. I have a novella to finish and three novels in process and two anthology invitations and one editing project half-completed and another to start in about ten days, so I simply cannot shoehorn another story into the mix. Yet my brain refuses to let go.
This is one of the pitfalls of being a creator – the new shiny. It’s always tempting to walk away from a project in favor of something different, something fresh and tasty and fun. Current work is familiar and a little tedious after the third revision. I’ve been at this long enough to know the danger. Usually I take an hour or a day and write down all the details of the new shiny in a separate document, and tuck it away into the folder I made for just these moments. Sometimes I go back and use something I’ve put there. Other times I never touch it again.
People come to our tables at book signings and conventions and ask, “Where do all these ideas come from?” I’m going to share a bite of the wisdom apple – coming up with good plots for stories is not hard. It’s the easiest part. The ideas don’t just pop into our heads – they bang on the door and scream into the crack in the window for us to pay attention. We can read a magazine and have three story ideas before we get to the first perfume advertisement. Ideas float around on the air, happy to slide in and make themselves at home in our imaginations.
The biggest enemy of the creator is, I think, time. We’re human and we’re only going to live so long. If we want to leave a legacy of work behind, we have to commit to finishing pieces we’ve already started. Nobody remembers writers who left only fragments behind. But complete books remain in the social consciousness for centuries.
So when that new shiny idea comes floating into your head, welcome it. Give it a hug and a cookie, tuck it away into its folder, then get back to work on the current project. The new shiny will wait for you.