How to Find the Best Idea for Your Novel | StoryCraft Advent Calendar: Day 2
I call myself an idea factory. On any given day, I might have anywhere between five and twenty ideas, whether that’s for a novel or a film or a video game. They’re constantly flowing in my mind. I get what you’re thinking: how, exactly, is this a problem? Listen, while it’s great to have ideas, having too many can be overwhelming. And then when it comes time to actually choose one to focus on? Good luck.
A big part of my writing journey over the last few years has been learning how to manage the way my mind works. My thoughts spill over at incredible speed, and it’s easy to get lost in the waterfall of ideas and characters and scenes. Sometimes it’s exhausting. But when I found my way through it, something magical happened. I found my voice, and I found my process.
Every creative mind has pros and cons, and there isn’t one way to write a book. Trying to take a one-size-fits-all approach is sure to end up in frustration. I might have twenty ideas running through my head at any given time, but someone else might have just one. The tools that work for me might not work for everyone in the same way, but in my experience, there’s common ground in figuring out how to harness the magic of your potentially-chaotic mind.
If you’re like me, then the struggle isn’t finding an idea, it’s choosing which idea to focus on (and then sticking to it). The allure of the shiny new thing on the horizon is usually more exciting than finishing the thing you’ve already started, and what I’ve discovered about this is the importance of finding a level of obsession with your WIP.
Yes. Obsession. When I’m on the other side of the table talking to writers, I can tell when someone is obsessed with what they’re working on, or if they’re just moving through the paces and trying to write anything. There’s a certain glimmer in a writer’s eye when they’re talking about THE book, not just a book, and I believe this is the key to getting through to the end and having it matter to readers.
It’s really important to LOVE the novel you’re writing, and not just because it makes the writing that much more interesting. The reality of crafting a novel is that we’re going to need to do many, many passes of this work to make it the best it can be, so the concept has to be something we’re (hopefully) not going to hate by draft six. If you sign a publishing contract tomorrow, you’re going to need to work through multiple rounds of edits. Are you ready for that?
Okay, I’ll call out the proverbial elephant in the room. At some point, you’ll probably hate your novel. This is, unfortunately, the reality of a long-term project. But there is something we can do to make this proving ground less arduous. If the core idea is as strong as possible and aligns with who you are and your writer’s voice, you’ll have a better chance of getting through without getting so frustrated that you give up completely.
We’re angsty people, writers, and that’s just part of the process. We’re digging into our minds and traumas to create entire worlds, and that’s not an easy task. Any time you’re getting frustrated with yourself, remember that what you’re doing is incredible. You’re incredible.
If you followed the StoryCraft Novel Challenge, you’ll know how strongly we feel about choosing the right idea and developing it from inception, and there are good reasons behind that. Both of us have come across the wall of writer’s block because we didn’t do the work ahead of time, and both of us have broken that wall by using this process.
So, how do you choose the right idea? Do you have an idea? A list of ideas? Is your idea strong enough to carry an entire novel’s worth of story? Are you obsessed with the story you’re brewing?
There are a few different pieces that build an idea, and everyone starts in a different place. You might have a character to start, or you might have a setting. You might have a plot point, or a scene, or an emotion. Wherever you start, it’s important to build on it as much as possible before you start writing the novel to make sure you have everything you need to keep it going.
There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through writing the first draft and figuring out that, actually, this concept is half-baked and doesn’t have the legs to be a full piece. I’m writing from experience, because I’ve been there. Multiple times. It’s the worst.
I started working through what would become the StoryCraft Process because this kept happening to me. Why could I write 20,000 words with ease, but then I kept getting stuck? How could I push past this invisible barrier? What I discovered was that I wasn’t actually developing entire ideas because I had no structure and no strategy.
I was developing my characters, my worlds, and my inciting incidents, but I wasn’t developing midpoints and climaxes and resolutions as strongly as I needed to. I was writing half-finished ideas, so no wonder I was getting stuck. Once I started developing my stories using this process, everything changed. Suddenly, I was drafting with ease.
Here is the core foundation of what I’ve discovered:
A Flawed Character, an Inciting Incident, Rising Action/Objective, and Stakes.
Who is the story about, what is the change that sparks the journey, what is the goal that tethers the reader and makes them want to finish the book, and what will happen if we don’t reach that goal?
We like to call this exercise a Developmental Logline, and it’s one of the first steps of the StoryCraft Process.
Loglines are typically used in the Film and TV World to concisely describe a story in as few words as possible. Using a Developmental Logline when you’re building out your idea helps to distill the core elements of the story. You need (at least one) flawed Character to act as the reader’s anchor for the book. You need an Inciting Incident to spark change and set us on the journey. You need Rising Action to amplify conflict and keep it interesting, and you need stakes to highlight what will happen if the Character fails.
Let’s break this down using a real-world example.
In Pride and Prejudice, the story is centered around Elizabeth Bennet, who, along with her sisters, needs to be married if she hopes to have a future. Her parents aren’t rich enough to support her for the rest of her life, so a marriage is paramount to survival. These are the stakes for this world, and even though they might not seem as life-or-death as something like The Hunger Games, they feel this critical to the Bennet sisters.
The Inciting Incident is the arrival of Mr. Bingley and his cranky friend Mr. Darcy, which sets the story in motion. Moment by moment, the need for the Bennet girls to secure a marriage becomes more dire, and the stakes rise.
If we look at The Hunger Games, which is more of an action-based story, Katniss is a loner in District 12 just trying to provide for her family. The Inciting Incident is Prim’s name being called at the Reaping, propelling Katniss into the Hunger Games. The Rising Action is built into the Games themselves, and the stakes are clear–if Katniss doesn’t win, she dies.
These two examples really showcase the importance for each of these elements from the conception of the book. It doesn’t matter whether you’re writing an action-packed adventure book or a simmering romance, there needs to be Rising Action coupled with stakes that matter to the characters.
When we use something like a Developmental Logline to outline our stories, it helps to figure out the base while the story is still in its fragile beginning state. We might not have all the pieces to the puzzle yet, but ensuring we at least have the foundations from the very beginning will give us something strong to build upon.
Writing a novel is hard work, and while we all define our processes the more we write, there are still multiple drafts to be written. We still need to love this idea enough to push through the hard days. We need to get to the end.
What I’ve found is the most helpful to me on my writing journey has been frontloading as much of the work as possible so that when I’m in my draft, all I’m doing is exploring. It’s so much harder to keep pushing when you hit a roadblock halfway through and your creative brain is already tired from all the work you’ve done to get this far.
Beyond that, though, is making sure I’m focused on the right idea. It’s not just an idea that feels right in the moment, but one that feels right every day (or most days). This is harder to talk about than it is to figure out, but you’ll know it when you feel it. If you’re struggling to stick with one idea through to the end, it might not be the right idea. You might need to be a little more obsessed.
Ideas will come and go, but building those ideas into great stories is what will set you apart as a writer. For me, it was exploring the worlds of creative women with traumatic pasts in complex relationships, and that may change as I step forward into new eras of my life. The difference has been one of intensity. I know I’m working on the right book when I can’t stop thinking about it even when I’m not writing.
It’s not always easy to stay focused, especially when you have tons of ideas, but the first step is having a plan to see you through. Consider it a lantern to guide you through the darkness. When you can see where you’re going, it’s so much less murky. Develop the idea, develop the right idea, and follow the muse.
-L.
And if you find you’re getting lost in the darkness, give the StoryCraft Novel Challenge a try. It’s a six-week bootcamp starting from idea and building to a complete outline for your book. It’s a great way to try out a new process and see which tools work for you <3
