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What do you do when you're stuck on an idea?



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Tue Sep 20, 2016 11:19 pm
MoonChild2308 says...



I only recently started working on my novel and so far the ideas have just been flowing. It's going to be a contemporary fantasy. I don't have enough of it figured out to really give a decent synopsis of it, but essentially there are demons from another dimension who exist on a plane that only certain people can see. There's an academy on an island hidden from normal people where people with this ability train in magic (sort of) to beat these demons, and the story revolves around a girl who suddenly finds out she's the reincarnation of one of the original warriors (the warriors against the demons, that is) and that the soul chose her to basically lead one of the groups of warriors at the school. Like I said, it's not a very good synopsis but I haven't figured out how to weave all of the other bits and pieces into it yet.

So far I think I've formed a decent portion of what I want the story to be and I've turned to working on world building but I've found I'm running into some problems. There are certain aspects of my story, both with world building and with the the characters, where I'm struggling to figure out how I want them to be. And I'm not sure how to move around these things and continue on with planning when I don't know these things. I guess I'm a little worried that if I move on without figuring these things out first, I might have to do a lot of work to change things to fit the ideas later. I have a friend who is usually willing to talk these things through with me but she just left on a long cruise where she won't be able to contact me, and now I'm kind of stuck.

So, long story short, I was wondering, what do you normally do when you're stuck on an idea? I find that if I can talk the ideas through with someone I can usually find a solution but I'm at a loss for that right now. What do you, as fellow writers, normally do when you're stuck on an idea that you just can't seem to figure out?
  





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Fri Sep 23, 2016 12:54 am
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Carlito says...



I try to give it some time. If I sit there and think I have to figure this out it's going to stress me out and I'm going to draw a blank. If I start thinking about my characters or my world and simply let my mind wander without any focus, I'm sometimes able to come up with solutions or learn new things about my characters/world. My best think time tends to be in the car, in the shower, while doing a mindless game on my phone, immediately before going to sleep, or right after waking up. I just let my mind go and see what happens.

I've also had success figuring things out and ironing out details as I've started writing. Sometimes you have to experiment with the characters and the world a bit before certain elements come to light. Remember that this is your first draft. It's great that you're putting so much thought into it because that's going to be really helpful when you go to write. But remember that there are going to be drafts that come after this. If you discover things as you're writing, great! Don't stress, just make a note to incorporate that element in the second draft, or go back and tweak plot elements that are effected.

If talking out plot works well for you and your usual person is gone, I know there are lots of lovely people on this site that love to do that too, and I'm sure any of them would be happy to help you brainstorm. I love to talk plot, but I don't feel I know enough about fantasy to give helpful input on this particular plot. I tend to read and write contemporary, but there are lots of fantasy writers on this site that I'm sure will be happy to help!

Good luck :D
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Fri Sep 23, 2016 10:32 pm
Kale says...



I'm the exact opposite of a planner, but I find that working on a different aspect of the writing often leads me to figure out a lot of the things that tripped me up earlier on. Sometimes this means putting in a placeholder and skipping a scene. Sometimes this means writing alternate versions of a scene, or looking at them through a different viewpoint character or tense. Sometimes, it means writing little ficlets about characters or events that may never be seen by anyone else but you, but which you can sometimes weave into the story.

Alternatively, there's sleeping on it or doing something completely separate to help your mind recharge and accumulate more new experiences that you can then apply to your writing.

Or, as Carlito mentioned, hopping into chat to talk things out with others is totally an option, and it's also a great way to make friends on YWS.
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