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| Photo credit: qisur on Flickr |
Many writers will
eventually find that they have more ideas than they know what to do with. Their
idea box is overflowing with scraps of paper begging to be remembered or their
brains are bursting at the seams with stories that could be interesting to pursue.
But how do you
know if any of those ideas are novel-worthy?
Good ideas stay with you until you eventually write the story. ~ Brian Keene #writing #amwriting
— YA Lit (@4KidLit) March 27, 2012
It really is that
simple.
Writers will
encounter thousands of ideas within a lifetime—snippets of an image, fragments
of a character, a haunting scene, interesting line of dialogue or intriguing
thought—and no one has enough time to turn every idea into a novel. But the
truth is, not every idea has enough substance to be turned into a fully plotted
story, and that's ok.
Because the ideas
that are novel worthy demand to be written. While other ideas fade with time, a
novel-worthy idea will haunt you day and night. Rather than disappearing with
time, it'll grow and develop into something complex, something that can't be
ignored, something that has to be written.
Those are the
ideas that you need to pursue.
Writing a novel
is tough. It takes months, even years to turn a first draft into a polished,
readable story and throughout that time if you aren't passionate about your
idea, the novel will never reach completion. Writing a novel is an exhausting
thing, which is why those other ideas, those non-novel-worthy ones will fade
with time. Because if the idea hasn't fully captivated the writer, there's
little chance it'll contain the spark it needs to captivate the reader.
So next time
you're unsure whether or not your latest idea is novel worthy, give it some
time. You'll know it's right when the idea refuses to leave you alone.
Writers: how do
you tell if an idea is novel worthy?
