Give your idea some time to be fully realized

I’m definitely guilty of this sometimes. For me, it presents itself in my writing. When I’m creating my novels, I have what I believe are great ideas or a great story and I hold on to it. I want so badly to see it through that it takes me a while to be open to the fact that there may be a better story waiting to be told.

And it’s not like I totally need to scrap the idea. The novel I’m working on now, I finished the first draft thinking I nailed the plot and all I needed to do was refine. But before doing that, I took time to reflect and ask myself a few questions (not in any particular order):

Is there another way this story can go?Can I explain the plot in a simple manner or am I changing the way I explain it every time I’m asked?How can I make this story even more compelling?

After I ask myself these questions, I think of the parts of my story that resonate the most — Are the characters really strong, how can I build on that scene with the mother speaking to the daughter she abandoned, does this character need to be more prevalent? The key is to separate what you feel strongly about from what actually works in the story. Those are two completely different measures.

I’m using writing as my example, but you should be taking this approach with all of your creative ideas. Allow yourself the time it takes to execute a fully-realized vision. Challenge yourself to find ways to elevate your original thoughts and approach. This means no procrastinating. Get started early so you have time to make changes, sweeping changes, if necessary.

CRY

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