[hippokrene]

I will occasionally get a 'brilliant idea.' A premise for a story that resonates with me and makes me want to put all my current work on hold and write out the masterpiece that will make the fantasy world not only publish me, but throw laurels at my feet. It will cause my mother to weep with happiness, give me a legion of devoted fans, and earn me the respect of my peers or, even better, their blistering jealousy.

It’s those moments where my muse softly wraps her arms around me, whispers sweet nothings in my ear, and inevitably slips out by dawn, never to call or write. She makes great promises, but the moment I have to actually sit down to write the damn thing? Gone! No e-mail, no phone call, and she takes me off her friend’s list at livejournal.

Then hippokrene’s law of writing number #5 comes in: The better the initial idea, the worse the actual writing.

Because I can sit down without a clue and write mediocre prose that’s passable, but if I start with the knowledge that I’m on to something good *I suck.* Like a Hoover plugged into the one of the turbine generators at the Three Gorges Dam.

It leads me to sit at my computer in the middle of the night rewriting my third paragraph for the fifth time while that little voice at the back of my head chants:
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-do!*
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-die!*
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-me!*
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-I!*
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-will!*
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-won’t!*
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-do!*
*suck**suck**suck*
*suckity-don’t!*

Which is oddly hypnotic in the midnight hours, and I find myself nodding along to the tune.

The ideas themselves are good. The one that popped into my head while I was showering tonight has an interesting protagonist with a strong goal, built in conflict, a suitable villain, a few side-characters, and fits it the genre without being paint-by-the-numbers. Intellectually, I know it isn’t brilliant, but it’s a solid foundation for a novel. Emotionally though, I have great hopes.

I supposed ‘Great Hopes: Blessing or Bane?’ might be the title as well. If I get too caught up, the pressure kills me, but without a great deal of hope, would I sit alone at the computer typing for hours knowing that 1) I’m a mediocre writer and, 2) getting a novel published is hard, and even then, 3) only about 10% of fiction writers seem to be able to make a living on it? Of course not. Highly unrealistic expectations are what keep me going. Telling myself that this is a *brilliant* idea keeps me going, even as it slows me down. It gives me a jolt of enthusiasm, which if it doesn’t lead to me writing this story, at least means I sit down and write the 1,000 words a day I promised myself at New Years.

Yes, 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration (or desperation and caffeine), but let’s not knock that 1%. If you want to build a bonfire, you have to start with a single spark and build it from there. I need my brilliant ideas because even when I *suck**suck**suck**suckity* it doesn’t.

Well, I’ve wasted enough time writing this, see you on the NYT Bestseller List.

[KatG]

Dude, it's supposed to suck at first. Write a really sucky first draft with a good idea and then fix it the next go round, possibly with help. In fact, dare yourself to see how badly you can suck at doing it. See how utterly awful your brain is at trying to produce the characters and such. And then you re-build and make it pretty, because by the time you get to the end of the really sucky draft, you'll have figured all sorts of things out that you didn't know when you started. You may have a completely different ending. You may have invented an entirely new country in the middle. Your brain cannot get to work if you have your Inner Weasel sitting on your shoulder sneering at you and your Editor Hat on your head telling you to fix it right now. Your brain needs to go on a drunken bender with your muse. And then maybe she'll stick around if you stop telling yourself you're a loser all the time. :)

[kmtolan]

Kat's spot on, and I would add a bit more.

When I started my last novel, it was off an idea. One of those "What if" moments. I didn't start writing - I started taking notes. I began brain storming with my significant other. Took more notes. Started character sketches. Created lists of things I wanted to see grow out of all of these ideas. Packed those lists into a rudimentary chapter outline. Coughed up character bibliographies.

Then I started writing - knowing damn well I would be (and should be) kicking the original plot to pieces.

You might be getting a little ahead of your groundwork, perhaps?

Kerry

[Nayar Olan]

Yes, this is what I needed to hear as I am stuck in the overhaul of chapter 2 of an otherwise completed novel: Dare to suck! I can aspire to this, thank you, KatG.

--Eric

[tdnewton]

The mantra that kept me going when I first started writing is as follows.

I have read books and seen movies and said to myself, "This is crap! How did this get published??"

In the end, I concluded that the main difference between my story and theirs was that theirs was finished.

It's not supposed to be perfect on the first try. In fact, if it is, you'd be the first person to ever achieve that feat. Just write it out, fix it later. Skip marks, make red pen marks all over it, do whatever it takes to finish the draft, then adjust as necessary. It's a hard lesson but it must be learned.

P.S. Finishing the first novel is pretty much the best thing ever. Finishing the second one is just as good, too.

[Ranke Lidyek]

The first step in writing is "suck". They call it, officially, a "first draft".

Write from the heart and don't even worry about logic to start with or sentence structure or the like. That's what the second and third and fourth drafts are for.

Sounds like you're stiffling your creativity. Go crazy and enjoy.

[BrightStar]

I, unfortunately, seem to be plagued by an inability to intentionally suck at my first draft. Yes, my first draft does suck, but the frustrating thing is that I throw my all into trying to make it NOT suck. If I don't try, I just get bored with medicore writing and poor plotting/characters/etc.

When I began to write my story, I didn't write because I wanted to be published, or anything like that, I just wrote because I had the idea for a story, and I wanted to know what happened to the characters. Writing, for me, is like telling myself a story. Therefore, when I wrote it, I HAD to make it as enjoyable to read as I possibly could. I can't relax unless I know I'm doing my best, even though I know that best isn't going to be good enough and the first draft will suck. I am actually looking forwards to my second draft, as I know THIS is when the real meat of the story usually gets added.

Unfortunately for me, after striking me with that wonderous "Great Idea", my muse then went off and left me all alone (*sob*). Without her, I find myself staring at a blank screen day after day, my fingers poised to write but utterly paralyzed with the hopeless knowledge that: "Whatever I type is going to suck!"

For the moment, I am forced to bide my time waiting for my muse to return long enough to offer me that much needed "spark", so that I can continue with my story. When she does, I think the words will flow (my planning is really coming together now) and I'll finally be able to write again.

My first draft is still going to suck though. I just wish I could let it suck. I've already calculated that based on my current rate of progress, my WIP isn't going to be finished until I'm at least 60!

[baragh]

I think a lot of us expect Muse to communicate to us in some kind of coherent fashion, when this is not really Muse's intention. At least in my own personal exploits, I've found that if I try to stick to Muse's first suggestion and rigidly make into a solid plot foundation, I'm making two mistakes:

Overplanning and not writing enough
Boring the Muse, so she leaves

By just writing a bunch of crap, you open a surprising amount of doors for you to open when you've got your editor's cap on, and the Muse sticks around. Muse doesn't like the Editor Villain, so she leaves.

[kater]

In the end, I concluded that the main difference between my story and theirs was that theirs was finished.

It's not supposed to be perfect on the first try. In fact, if it is, you'd be the first person to ever achieve that feat. Just write it out, fix it later. Skip marks, make red pen marks all over it, do whatever it takes to finish the draft, then adjust as necessary. It's a hard lesson but it must be learned.


To the OP - the above is gold. I've been trying to write comics for the last few years and frequent a site with a membership of professionals and not-far-offs, this means two things:
1.) They've seen it all before so I'm not going to surprise them with my brilliance, even if I had any.
2.) They've forgotten more than I know about the medium so I'm not going to surprise them with my knowledge.

However they do respect finished comics. The unofficial site motto is Do The Work. So you've got 1000 words and only ten of them have any value, so you can't quite see how all the story beats fit together ... yet, if you sit there and do the work each day you'll make some connections, write a paragraph or two you don't want to throw away and suddenly that snowball is moving down the hill. Ideas are great to start with but it really is only 10% inspiration, I know you know what the rest is :)

[kater]

Found this list the other day, perhaps it will be of some use to you. (Apologies for length)

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.

14. Dying young is overrated.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is changing.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can't.

18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irrelevant.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

23. Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.

24. Don't worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

25. You have to find your own schtick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

31. Remain frugal.

32. Allow your work to age with you.

33. Being Poor Sucks.

34. Beware of turning hobbies into jobs.

35. Savor obscurity while it lasts.

36. Start blogging.

37. Meaning Scales, People Don't.

37. When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.