Grr! That first idea!

[gilesth]

Okay, when I read Nathan's post last week about throwing out your first idea, I though, "Great, I'm working on a new WiP, and I already threw out my first idea. I'm in great shape to move forward!"

So yesterday I sat down to work on my outline and realized I was creating a supernatural YA thriller that, in the end, only barely managed to not rip off the Maltese Falcon. So here I sit, wondering what to do next with my story. I refuse to throw out what I've written in my outline because I have some good stuff there. Original stuff that I can use no matter what shape the story takes. However, I need to figure out what my next idea should be.

I have characters, I have a universe to work with, now I just need a plot.

Anyone else dealing with this problem? I'd LOVE you hear your stories :D

[Margo]

Anyone else dealing with this problem?

I think it would probably be news if you found many people who hadn't had this problem.

I have several ways of combatting this. First, and most unhelpful to others, I have a friend who is a diabolical genius. I brainstorm with him. Second, I keep an idea scratchpad (Word file) with everything from news stories to song lyrics, anything that sparks an idea for a premise, a main problem, a scene, a setting, a theme, whatever. When I come up short on current plot, I see what I have in the idea pantry and improvise. Third, I do more work on characters, specifically looking at how their deepest fears and dearest desires take shape. These often suggest a plot. Adding conflicting, mutually exclusive desires (frequently within a single character) and putting (at least) the protag in the most uncomfortable setting and situation possible, I mix well and bake at 350 degrees for several days. Voila! Bon escrive! (Gosh, French class was awhile back. Escrive? Hmmm. When I try to think in French, it comes out Latin. Gaelic comes out French. Latin comes out Spanish. Crap.)

[dios4vida]

Oh yeah! I just barely got my plot rolling along for my new WIP. I had characters and setting and everything, only I had very little for them to do and nowhere to go. It was gonna be a really boring book if I didn't do something quick.

I haven't exactly thrown out my first idea on this one, though after several bunny trails and subtle morphings it sounds completely different. My first idea (blasted first idea!) was way too similar to The Last Airbender, so my mind started playing around with it. What if instead of tribes they were completely different races? And if only one of the races could manipulate elements, then the others could have magic over other things. And then...and then...and then...and now I have a "new" plot/setting/basis that can be traced directly to my too-similar-to-something-famous idea but has very little resemblance.

For me it's all about shifting it around. It's only after I've manipulated an idea over and around and under several times and it's still not working that I finally admit that it's a blasted first idea that just has to go.

[gilesth]

See, I love to hear how other people deal with their writing problems! Gives me ideas for solutions :)

[oldhousejunkie]

This probably won't help either, but I don't outline. I start writing and as I get a better grasp on my characters, it becomes clearer to me about where I want to take them (or maybe it's where they want to take me.)

I think very few people can come up with a truly new plot line. I think even Nathan has said that it's all been done. The best you can do is put your own spin on it! I can think of worse stories to emulate than The Maltese Falcon!

[gilesth]

This probably won't help either, but I don't outline. I start writing and as I get a better grasp on my characters, it becomes clearer to me about where I want to take them (or maybe it's where they want to take me.)

I think very few people can come up with a truly new plot line. I think even Nathan has said that it's all been done. The best you can do is put your own spin on it! I can think of worse stories to emulate than The Maltese Falcon!

Oh it helps :) I did that before I started outlining: fiddled around with the characters for a bit. The biggest reason I outline (personally) is because I don't like hitting the end of a first draft only to discover that the plot doesn't make sense. All of my stories (regardless of genre) have some kind of mystery involved, and I like to make sure the plot has no continuity errors before I start writing scenes. I found that it's easier to fix problematic stories without having to re-write full scenes, and I hate having to removes scenes from my work :D

[Beethovenfan]

I am another non-outliner. I've tried it but found that I never stuck to it. My stories morph too much as the ideas flow. In fact, I usually start just with characters. Sometimes I know the setting, but even that can change as the writing goes forward. I usually don't know what will happen at the end; I find out after I write it. Having said that, I have to edit and re-edit as I write. Probably not the most efficient way of doing things, but it's the way I work. My first ideas are usually evolved so much by the time I am finished that there is hardly anything left of them. But, you have to start somewhere!

[oldhousejunkie]

All of my stories (regardless of genre) have some kind of mystery involved, and I like to make sure the plot has no continuity errors before I start writing scenes.

I can totally see why you do then. I would completely lose my plot if I had to involve some mystery. But even, my first full-scale novel (as a middle schooler) just kept going and going and going....with no end. And then my second attempt did the same. I have no clue how I managed to complete my current MS... :-)

[Claudie]

I am another non-outliner. I've tried it but found that I never stuck to it. My stories morph too much as the ideas flow. In fact, I usually start just with characters. Sometimes I know the setting, but even that can change as the writing goes forward. I usually don't know what will happen at the end; I find out after I write it.

You know, I'm an outliner but that sounds a lot like me anyway. The main difference is that I'll do an outline, imagine the scenes, get new ideas, and then start the outline again to work in the changes. By the time I start the first draft, my idea has morphed quite a lot, and I've got a good grasp of characters (which I also start with) and setting. I couldn't start writing without a good idea of the end, though.

More on topic, I just had to throw my first idea too. I flipped my story a whole 180 degrees around but kept the setting and two of the characters, because I loved what I had done there. Someone mentioned writing down fears and goals for your characters. That's a great way to find plot. I usually seek at least one short-term goal and one long-term for each of them, and then I list the obstacles to reaching these goals (including internal ones. ESPECIALLY internal ones)