>One of the most difficult decisions can be where to take your story next. You can brainstorm and brainstorm, listing the choices for all eternity it seems. But eventually you must make a choice. I think for some writers this is easier than for others. I’m a person who likes to keep options open. I like to have choices, but settling on just one sometimes requires telling myself to just make up my mind and move forward.
Instead of just taking the first idea, I do think it’s good to see if you can do better. But the fact is you can change everything a million times and never finish the story. I found participating in NaNoWriMo was helpful for curing this. You have no time to hem and haw over where to take the story. You have to make up your mind fast.
How can you settle on an idea when you have several good options? There is no right answer and many ideas can qualify as the “best.” I choose the ideas that I love and make me excited to dig in. When I start to lose passion for a story, I look at the decisions I’ve made. If you’re not excited about a direction the story is taking, maybe you should go back to brainstorming and choose an alternate path. Writing should be exciting, even when it’s hard. Never lose sight of that.
That’s my Monday rant. On a different note, check back here tomorrow for an exclusive interview with my novel’s heroine, Imogen Bell. It’s part of the character interview blogfest hosted by Echoes of a Wayward Mind. It’s not too late to sign up if you haven’t already. See you then!
