After a rousing five minutes of the three-year-old yelling Katy Perry's song Hot n' Cold in my ear (at least her version of it) and telling me my ears are quite soft (thanks Vyolette, you tenderized them beforehand) I began to think about how ideas are formed and subsequently rejected or embraced. One minute you're hot for it and the next, you've moved on to something prettier or easier or way more interesting.
I am blessed with rampant ADD. I am rarely at a loss for ideas but the flibbity gibbet in me can't settle on one for long and I litter my hard drive with half-baked ideas and aborted first chapters. As my good friend Aly would say, however, I nearly always round back to a good idea eventually and get my groove on until I finish. Some writers use notebooks to record the awesome things floating around in their mind, others a voice recorder. I rely on my children. Brilliant, eh? I tell them to "Never let mommy forget XXXXX." It's had, er, varying success. The Zombie Dating Guide was Syenna's baby and she made sure I kept to it throughout NaNo. Pocket Full of Posies fell onto Wynter's shoulders. Let's say it's one of those "back to it" projects. ;)
Do you choose a subject based on trends or what you're passionate about? Do you study the markets and see what's selling right now and cater to an established audience or hope to win them over with your unique slant on a subject?
How do you pick and choose your next project?
The muse. But my ideas don't come consistently and I have writing 'power surges'. I will go through a dry spell and only manage to get a few posts on my blog, and then WHACK! I HAVE to write, and if I don't I will explode with the amazing idea! Sometimes I stop in the middle of a book and toss it, other times I am racing to the words "The End". It really does sound crazy, but I've learned to just take a back seat to my creativity and hold on for dear life.
ReplyDeleteI have random ideas float through my head and I try and grab a recorder, a small notebook, laptop, or my cell phone. I don't follow a trend, I write what I love, if in reading a book I find an idea I write it down just so I have it for the future...
ReplyDeleteI suppose you would say I am a trendsetter, not a trendfollower, :)
Adam braen no worky fancy way. Adam hav menny ideas. Idea wot shouts loudest gets wroted furst. :-)
ReplyDelete*Snigger*
I try not to let any influences like trends/market/audience affect which ideas I use (consciously anyway). I just go with whichever seems to stand out the most. If, after a chapter or two, it doesn't stand up, it gets moidered. ;-)
Adam
My ideas are hard to come by. I'm loving my current shiny idea but can't come up with a friggin plot. BUT, I told it to someone yesterday and we both got the chills, so I figure that's a good sign.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! All so different to get to the same place. :)
ReplyDeleteNone of my projects have been driven by trends. They start out as an itch I can't scratch in my mind, then blossom into a story that totally consumes me. Whether or not they're any good, or marketable, is yet to be determined.
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