Sometimes a premise that you end up not using or changing can be used for some other idea. This happened tonight for me.
I was thinking of this series idea that was built around a character and an industry. That series idea has been radically different. I thought back to the original character and premise. What about it did I like? What did I want to write about it?
I started thinking of what I could do with that original idea.
Then--boom--out of nowhere, as everybody else in the house was asleep and Chariots Of Fire was on television (but wasn't really being watched), I came up with an idea. A pretty crazy idea, if you ask me.
Could be brilliant. Could be terrible. Could amount to nothing. Could be my breakthrough.
All because I didn't forget about that first premise.
Don't forget. Store away. Some ideas are truly worthless and need to stay buried. But some ideas are truly priceless.
Only time can tell. And the only way it can is to occasionally pull them out of the mental drawer, dust them off, and think about them for a little while.
Labels: on writing, story ideas, tips
