Thoughts on Thoughts and Work
I'm sitting here, at my computer, like I do every day. I'm also pondering how best to go about turning my ideas into something concrete.
The thing with ideas, as any person who is successful in a creative career will tell you, is that they're just the beginning. Yes, they are important, but what really matters is what you do with them. Take a look at your favorite book. Sure, it started out as an idea, or a group of ideas. But if it was just those it would merely be a list of ideas, mildly interesting perhaps, but not the sort of thing that drags you in and keeps you hooked until you realize you've spent the night reading and need to be up in an hour to get to work.
Often you'll have several creative works which are all based on the same basic idea, or group of ideas, but which are all developed differently. If I were to write a story from any given prompt I can guarantee it would be different from the story you would write. Sometimes a work is nothing more than a well known story with a different twist to it. Just look at all of the romantic tragedies that are nothing more than Romeo and Juliette in a different context! You could set the story of star crossed lovers from two groups in conflict with each other anywhere and anywhen. A lot of romantic tragedies are simply "two people fall in love but can't be together because ________"
I'm an idea person, which means I have far more ideas than I have time to develop. Some ideas are more fertile than others, and there's nothing quite like a group of creative people taking a basic idea and discussing different ways of developing it. Some of the most fun conversations I've had have been with my Mom and/or my daughter where we were bouncing ideas around.
I'm not very good at sitting down and doing the hard work of turning an idea into something good. I can do it, I have the skills. What I lack is something far more important that natural ability or anything that can be taught in a classroom. What I lack is discipline.
My daughter, on the other hand, has the discipline and drive to turn her abundance of ideas into something people will want to read. The discipline, more than any natural talent for writing or abundance of ideas, is what will allow her to be a successful novelist.
The thing with ideas, as any person who is successful in a creative career will tell you, is that they're just the beginning. Yes, they are important, but what really matters is what you do with them. Take a look at your favorite book. Sure, it started out as an idea, or a group of ideas. But if it was just those it would merely be a list of ideas, mildly interesting perhaps, but not the sort of thing that drags you in and keeps you hooked until you realize you've spent the night reading and need to be up in an hour to get to work.
Often you'll have several creative works which are all based on the same basic idea, or group of ideas, but which are all developed differently. If I were to write a story from any given prompt I can guarantee it would be different from the story you would write. Sometimes a work is nothing more than a well known story with a different twist to it. Just look at all of the romantic tragedies that are nothing more than Romeo and Juliette in a different context! You could set the story of star crossed lovers from two groups in conflict with each other anywhere and anywhen. A lot of romantic tragedies are simply "two people fall in love but can't be together because ________"
I'm an idea person, which means I have far more ideas than I have time to develop. Some ideas are more fertile than others, and there's nothing quite like a group of creative people taking a basic idea and discussing different ways of developing it. Some of the most fun conversations I've had have been with my Mom and/or my daughter where we were bouncing ideas around.
I'm not very good at sitting down and doing the hard work of turning an idea into something good. I can do it, I have the skills. What I lack is something far more important that natural ability or anything that can be taught in a classroom. What I lack is discipline.
My daughter, on the other hand, has the discipline and drive to turn her abundance of ideas into something people will want to read. The discipline, more than any natural talent for writing or abundance of ideas, is what will allow her to be a successful novelist.