Too Many Writing Ideas? How to Decide Which Story to Write First
If you're a writer with more story ideas than time, congratulations. You have one of the better writing problems to have.
One idea appears while you're working on another. Then a character walks into your imagination uninvited. Before you know it, you've got three unfinished manuscripts, seventeen notes in your phone, and a brand-new book idea demanding immediate attention.
Sound familiar?
Having lots of ideas can be exciting, but it can also keep you from finishing anything. The answer isn't to stop having ideas. It's to learn how to capture them without letting every new idea become your new project.
Here are some practical ways to manage a crowded imagination.
1. Stop Treating Every Idea Like an Assignment
An idea isn't a command.
You don't have to write every story the moment it appears.
Some ideas need time to develop. Others may eventually become a subplot, character, short story, or completely different book.
When inspiration strikes, write it down. Give yourself enough detail that you'll understand the idea later, then return to the project you're currently writing.
Think of your idea list as a bookshelf. You don't have to read every book on the shelf at the same time.
2. Create an Idea Bank
Give all those wandering ideas somewhere to live.
Create a notebook, computer folder, document, or notes section called your Idea Bank.
For each idea, record:
Working title:
What might you call it?
Premise:
What's the story about in one or two sentences?
Main character:
Who is at the center of it?
Conflict:
What's standing in their way?
Ending idea:
Do you know where the story might go?
Why I want to write it:
This one matters. What excites you about this particular story?
Now you don't have to worry about forgetting the idea. It's safely tucked away while you finish what you're already writing.
3. Give New Ideas a Waiting Period
New ideas are shiny.
Your current manuscript is not.
You've spent months wrestling with the current book. You know all its problems. The new idea hasn't disappointed you yet.
That makes comparison unfair.
Before abandoning your current manuscript for a new idea, give the new one a waiting period.
Write it in your Idea Bank and leave it alone for a week or two.
If you're still thinking about it afterward, there may be something worth exploring. If you've already moved on to another idea, you've saved yourself from starting another manuscript you probably wouldn't finish.
4. Find the Idea With the Most Fuel
Not every interesting idea can carry an entire book.
Ask yourself:
Can I imagine the beginning?
Can I imagine the ending?
Does my protagonist want something badly enough to drive a story?
Is there enough conflict to sustain a full manuscript?
Am I interested in exploring this world for months, not just days?
That last question is important.
Writing a novel requires a relationship with an idea long after the honeymoon ends.
Choose the story you're willing to stay with.
5. Rank Your Ideas Instead of Starting Them
If three ideas are fighting for your attention, put them head-to-head.
Score each from 1 to 5 in these categories:
Excitement
Character potential
Conflict
Originality
Audience potential
Knowledge of the subject
How clearly you see the story
Desire to finish it
You may discover that the idea shouting the loudest isn't necessarily the strongest.
6. Borrow From Your Other Ideas
Here's where things get interesting.
Sometimes you don't actually have five books.
You have one better book hiding inside five ideas.
Maybe the romance you imagined for another novel would strengthen your current manuscript.
Perhaps two secondary characters could be combined.
Maybe that incredible ending you've been saving belongs to the book you're already writing.
Your ideas don't have to live in separate boxes.
Move them around.
Combine them.
Experiment.
Sometimes the missing ingredient in one story has been sitting in another idea all along.
7. Know When an Idea Really Isn't Working
There's also a difference between being distracted by a new idea and realizing your current project genuinely isn't working.
If you've repeatedly tried to fix a manuscript and something still feels fundamentally wrong, examine it before abandoning it.
Ask:
Is the premise the problem?
Is the protagonist strong enough?
Are the stakes high enough?
Did I start the story in the wrong place?
Would changing the point of view help?
Am I simply stuck in the difficult middle?
Sometimes you don't need a new book.
You need a new approach to the book you already have.
8. Give Yourself Permission to Put a Story Away
Finishing matters, but forcing every idea into a finished novel doesn't.
Sometimes an idea simply isn't ready.
Putting a manuscript away isn't necessarily quitting.
Label it.
Save your notes.
Write down what isn't working.
Then move it into your Idea Bank.
You may return six months or five years later and suddenly understand exactly what the story needs.
Writers grow. Sometimes we have an idea before we have the skills, experience, or perspective necessary to tell it well.
9. Have One Primary Project
This may be the most important rule.
Know which book is your book.
You can jot down other ideas. You can brainstorm. You can even play with another project occasionally.
But have one manuscript that receives the majority of your writing time.
When you sit down to work, you shouldn't have to decide which of six books deserves your attention.
You've already decided.
That decision protects your progress.
10. Remember: Ideas Don't Make Authors. Finished Stories Do.
A notebook filled with brilliant ideas is wonderful.
But readers can't read ideas.
Eventually, you have to choose one.
Commit to it.
Write through the exciting beginning, the troublesome middle, the chapter you hate, the plot hole that makes you question your life choices, and the day you're convinced the entire manuscript belongs in a drawer.
Then finish.
Because sometimes the difference between someone who dreams about writing books and someone who becomes an author isn't talent.
It's deciding which idea gets to reach The End.
Your Writing Challenge
Look at all the stories competing for your attention and choose three.
For each one, answer:
Why do I want to write this story?
Then ask yourself one final question:
If I could only finish ONE of these books this year, which one would I be most disappointed not to write?
There's a good chance you've just found your next project.
Boshers Publishing
Read. Write. Imagine.
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