Today's goober writer is Victoria Caswell from Hairnets and Hopes! Vic is one of the most amazing bloggers I've ever met. She is so sweet and all her posts are fun to read! Even on my busiest days, I make sure I take a looksie at what she's posted. So go over there and join today! You will NOT be disappointed.
The Goober mistake I'm going to write about today has to do with the craft of writing. :)
This mistake is one of the (many) reasons I've been stuck in rewrites for so long. It is:
IDEA HOARDING!!!
dum dum duuuummmmm....
When I started on my first real WIP, I knew that there were other stories I wanted to write. So when I was pecking away at my first draft, ideas would occur to me- ideas that could enrich the world, add layers to the backstory, add depth to the characters...
BUT
I was scared to write those ideas.
I thought that if I poured all those beneficial ideas into that first WIP, I would have no ideas left for the other stories I knew I wanted to write.
And therein lies the mistake.
Because the imagination is like a muscle. It grows the more you use it.
Each time we sit down and outline, plot, and write: we're exercising. And it makes our imagination muscles grow. It isn't like there is only a finite amount of ideas you will come up with. As you mature, learn, research, and are inspired- ideas upon ideas pile upon you.
Now, I'm going back and enriching my fictional world with all those details that I once denied it.(and new ones that have occured to me since then!) And I have to say, I enjoy it much more this way- less stark, more tactile. And guess what!!?!? I haven't run out of ideas yet!
In fact, I'm overrun by ideas! :)
Ooh! Such a good point! I did this ALL the time when I first started writing. In fact, I still have to remind myself that my current WIPs CAN have all those details. I don't have to wait for another story at all!
Thanks for sharing, Vic!
How about you, dear readers. Can you relate?
Ooh! Such a good point! I did this ALL the time when I first started writing. In fact, I still have to remind myself that my current WIPs CAN have all those details. I don't have to wait for another story at all!
Thanks for sharing, Vic!
How about you, dear readers. Can you relate?
Oh, I struggle with this fear, too, that I'll never have a great idea again in my life and I have to dole the ones I do have out very carefully.
ReplyDeleteNeed to exercise that imagination muscle more! Writing exercises and writing prompts are great for this, but I hardly ever push myself to do them. Lazy!
I saw this post on her blog too!
ReplyDeleteI have more ideas now than when I started my writing pursuit. But it takes work to come up ideas that make sense for the particular story or phrasing the ideas to mean what I want. But the more I write, the better I get. Eventually I'll get to "the end."
ReplyDeleteI can relate to that!
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Emily, I always forget to ask you why doesn't you blog have it's RSS FEED, without it it's impossible for your friends to put you in their blogrolls :(
ReplyDeleteAnd love your idea on not saving up on imagination :)
i had NO IDEA about the twelve days of christmas thing!!! :) merry christmas em! :)
ReplyDeletei'm glad to hear i'm not the only one who did/ does this!!! :)
I used to think like that too. But I reallized that if I kept postponing the use of my ideas, I'd never get something written.
ReplyDelete:-)
I have to say this is one problem I've not encountered yet. WOW. A streak of one! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, I can relate. Especially regarding similes and metaphors--I'm afraid I've used them all up. LOL But you're SO right; the imagination is a muscle we can strengthen, and even more comes forth! Practice, practice!
ReplyDelete