Hi Brenda,

That's not a bad problem to have - loads of ideas.

Wow, that is awesome how changing the starting point of your story got you going. Well done in thinking outside the square. It's not always easy to see a different way to do things in our stories, because we become married to those initial ideas.

You'll probably find you know the main character so much better by the time you write your way through the whole story, which will give you ways to layer even more emotional depth and motivations into the story as you edit.

As for your other discarded ideas, I find doing a brainstorming session and some day dreaming about the characters that might inhabit the story, a good place to get the creative juiced flowing.

Best of luck with your writing. I look forward to staying in touch online.

I set it aside and finally figured out that though the idea was sound, I was starting it in the wrong place. I couldn't get the rest of the plot to fall in line from where I tried to force it to begin.

I always knew the client of my down and out female PI would die, but I kept putting it off. So I started out with the murder and took it from there. More bodies hit the ground, hijinks ensue, but I'm on chapter 11 and still going. Sure it's only 4 more, but it's 4 more than I had.

Hi, Sam. Thanks for sharing your tip.

That's super interesting that you work on several ideas at a time. I can see how it allows time for each one to grow and for you to see if it has legs.

Happy writing.

Thanks so much for sharing, JH.

It's amazing how much we learn about our characters and stories just writing our way through that first draft. I'm a plotter, but no matter how well I think I've planned beforehand, I make myriad decisions as I write and the story turns out different to what I first envisaged, plus I will have a much deeper affiliation with my characters.

Enjoy finding your way through this series.

Sandy-To be honest, I didn’t even start with a story idea, only that first scenario. What might logically happen next, then next, came from pantsing.

A short way in I realized I’d painted my characters into a tight dramatic box, impeding the action. So, I branched off into a couple of separate but linked sub-plots where I could alternate between threads to always keep reader’s’ attention.

As I saw all these threads needed to neatly join back together I realized the need for plotting. At this point too, I began to recognize a theme, sneaking in through my characters’ dialogue.

Discovering I’d (inadvertently) inserted a theme made me re-examine my characters’ philosophy and motivations, and how else they might view their duty and roles in dealing with the challenges. As result, I saw them embracing an even larger challenge, impossible to accomplish in one story. Then, not even in two stories.

One result of all this “what then” is that opening up the story gave me greater room to develop my characters and personalities-using craft skills I learned along the way from reading and excellent feedback from a terrific local critique group (whom I credit greatly).

Its sequel is nearly done, but with the setting (back on Earth) and their new task (solution) so world changing, the technical research and plotting demands are quite challenging.

Outmaneuvering aliens, it seems, isn’t nearly as hard as overcoming human bureaucracy and political posturing.

Exactly the purpose of this blog, Julie.
Sometimes all it takes is for someone else to throw questions at us (or a list of them) to get us thinking more deeply about the "why" of it all.

Thank you. I think your question stops a reader in their tracks to reconsider what they've been working on, and why it's not going anywhere. It could save us writers a lot of disappointment and wasted time if we view our work with this question in mind.

That sounds a beautiful, organic process Julia.

It's so exciting when a little piece of the puzzle presents itself and fits with all the other pieces.

I look forward to staying in touch and hearing about your publication and next story.

Thank you. It wasn't so much a shiny idea as a very dusty one. It sort of grew organically - the genre, the characters, the plot, the settings, all very slowly unfolded and developed. As I thought about it, some things just obviously would have been there, events would have necessarily followed, and then caused further changes. It involved lots of research, close attention to news reports of similar events. Everything just fed the next scene or revision of scenes, the deepening of characters and sharpening of goals and motivations. And lots and lots and lots of rewriting and patience.