Infinite Imaginations (a rant)
Hey, fellow writer. I have the same problem. I start a project, then get the urge to continue a different project. I’ve read a lot of the EXCELLENT advice listed here, but I have already done most of it personally and I still haven’t gotten any farther.
‘Flesh out your characters’, they say.
‘Map out your worlds’, they say.
‘Plan the plot’, they say.
etc. etc.
My fault is that my brain automatically does all those things TO ALL MY IDEAS. Therefore, to me, each of the ideas feel like they are already complete works; movies, shows, books, plays, videogames, or whatever have you.
‘Okay, then merge them’, they say.
‘Combine the books’, they say.
‘Use all the ideas for one novel’, they say.
etc. etc.
Not bad advice, but, that’s definitely not going to work for me. That is, unless you want to see an action/horror/children’s/rated R/educational/historic fiction/inspirational/suspense dramatic rom-com documentary staring cowboys, aliens, knights, pirates, astronauts, schoolkids, anthropomorphic animals, dinosaurs, magic, retired geologists, mythological beings, science fiction, and Abraham Lincoln that takes place in every single country on earth plus fifteen other planets. In that case, be my guest.
BUT, even then, IF I WERE TO DARE TRY THAT MONSTROSITY, who would I zoom in to? Where would the storyline start and where will it end? Who will be the main character? What will the synopsis be?
‘Make character profiles,’ they say.
‘Know things your reader will never know,’ they say.
‘Go back in time and fast forward too,’ they say.
etc. etc.
Welp. I do that with almost EVERY SINGLE ONE of my characters-- EVEN the “extras”. In my world(s), each character has a backstory. There’s no such thing as extras. If you have a name, you’re real. Heck, if you don’t have a name, you still have a wife and seventeen kids and you guys moved to New York from Bangladesh in 1982. If you make even a minor appearance in my book, be it a businesswoman in an elevator or a king’s servant, I probably know (or can quickly find out) when and where you were born, what you do, where you live-- and, most times, how you’ll die.
I need serious help.
But, this post has gotten completely too long already. In fact, I’m supposed to be writing my novel for NaNoWriMo right now. But, guess what? I’m not. You know why? Because my imagination is infinite, and my mind is full of worlds to explore. You don’t watch the same television series all day long without trying anything else. You don’t read one novel over and over without opening another. You don’t stare at one painting and never buy another piece of art. You don’t take photographs of the same thing at the same angle all the time. You need variety. You need to switch it up. Yeah, I know I said it’s a problem, but now I’m convinced it’s a gift. I feel that I have enough ideas to start a television channel (or streaming service) that has every different type of thing that anyone in the family could love and enjoy. I feel that, if I plugged a printer up to my brain, I could press out books that could fill an entire library with books of all genres. Not everyone has an infinite imagination and those who do often hinder them by attempting to shut out all the new ideas. I know you said not to tell you to write short stories or poems etc. but guess what? That’s exactly what I’m going to tell you. I don’t care. I’m a rebel. I’m a rebel when it comes to NaNoWriMo. You’re supposed to work on one novel, but guess what? Every time I try that, I get burned out. So, I make a project called “Whatever the Heck I Want To Write” and every word I pen through November counts towards it, from chapters of my main project to advice such as this. Sometimes I need a break from something. That certainly doesn’t mean I don’t care about it. It doesn’t mean I’m not a fangirl of my own work. It means I’m a fangirl of all my works, and I think you should be the same.
Oh. And you should be a fan of your own work too. XD jk.
I write short stories to give folks a taste of my work. If I wait to get a complete novel for every single one of my ideas before I decided to share them, I’m sure I would die first and all those thousands of worlds and millions of characters would die right along with me. If I write short stories and share them, I will be letting them off into the world a little at a time. Just because I only unleash a couple of short stories doesn’t mean that’s all I have. I just don’t have enough time to type it all. But that’s perfectly fine. I have come to the realization that I may never unleash all the stories as full works. But, when people comment on a piece, and they ask for more, or they chat about their characters and I bring up one of mine that are in a similar setting or predicament, I can keep up the conversation like mine is already an established trademark character. These little interactions with other writers and readers push me a little at a time to publish more and more segments, and, pretty soon, I just might be able to put it all together. But, until then, I’m not pushing myself, and I suggest you don’t either.
You BETTER NOT PUSH ME. XD jk
You know what I really mean. Don’t push yourself.
Edit:
Editing lol. I edit so much that I forgot this and re-read it and decided to add it.
'Don't edit', they say.
'Just write. Don't re-write', they say.
'Never stop and re-read', they say.
Tot tot. I cannot. It's impossible. I just re-wrote the sentence that says "Just write. Don't re-write." five times lol.
1. I am a perfectionist.
2. I know that when I write and re-write, it still won't be perfect, but that's okay.
3. I like to read my own stuff. It motivates me.
4. I don't want the manuscript to look like ksndci jslksdjflsj kdfl;kjdnkfvjwe misofcnw viubw ieuhfo ijwefojwdoivmw dofjpmo[wejfi ovn ionfiocvm evm
or I will have absolutely no idea what I just typed. (plus, I can't stand all those little lines under the words. How distracting!)
Moral of the story? Edit if you wanna.
TL;DR?
Do what you love.
Write.
Share.
Have fun.
God bless and thanks for reading my long rant! I hope you got something meaningful out of it.