Dealing with Eurekas

Eureka moments are one of the best things about being a writer: that excitement you get when a new idea hits; the surge of creative energy.

But before you go off and write 80,000 words in a fit of mania, slow down for a second and ask yourself these three questions.

1. What's different about this idea? Has it been done a zillion times before?

2. Is there enough potential for conflict to carry this idea through a full-length novel?

3. Does this idea fit in with my genre of writing? Is it the type of genre I'd want to first be published in? Does it even fit comfortably into a genre?

When I get a new idea, I try now to let it sit for a week or two before I go back to it -- long enough to let the fervour die down, so I can examine it with objective eyes. If, after answering those three questions, I still feel excited, then I go for it!

How do you deal with new ideas?

Significant Other Blogfest Tomorrow! Drop by to see what Mr TR has to say about my writing (among other things!).