Elliot Kessler

Writers (and creatives in general) are filled with ideas. We sometimes have trouble keeping ourselves from jumping from one idea to the next. We have so many ideas that we’re so excited about we can hardly wait to start working on them.

The sad truth is that we’ll probably have more ideas than we’ll every be able to write, which means you’ll have to pick the ones you want to write most. It’s up to you to find your best ideas and put pen to paper.

But how do you pick the best ideas? How do you know which concepts are filled with the most potential? How do you know which ones will sell the best?

Alright! It’s anecdote time.

I was trying to read the second book of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. I love Sci-Fi action stories (which would explain the stories I write), and I had been wanting to find some solid novellas for a while. Besides, the concept was interesting enough. A cyborg security unit goes rogue and has to keep it a secret from the humans it works for. I was intrigued.

I read the first one and thought it was okay. It was passable, but it wasn’t anything great despite what everyone else says. Then I got to the second one, and I couldn’t even get halfway. The main character annoys me so much, and the whole story was flat-out boring, not to mention the language. I put it down and decided not to read the series anymore.

Around the same time, I decided to dip my toes into the world of manga. For those that don’t know what manga is, it’s Japanese comic books. That’s it. They became really popular in the United States some time ago along with anime, and I had some friends who enjoyed it, so I thought I would give it a try. I started with a series called One Punch Man which is about a superhero who can defeat any of his enemies with a single punch. I gave it a shot.

When I read the premise, I expected it to be fun and entertaining. I didn’t expect it to be funny, exciting, and filled with deep thoughts on the purpose of life and finding a reason to keep going. It was really interesting and a ton of fun.

This plus an essay from a collection called How To Write a Novella In 24 Hours by Andrew Mayne got me thinking about finding story ideas, which inspired this post. Which ideas are best? Which ones will stand out? Which ones will people think are too weird?

It turns out, people will read and watch anything if you market it well enough and tell a good story. The ideas are the easy part. It’s turning those ideas into coherent, logical, exciting, and meaningful stories that’s hard.

From what I’ve seen, I’m not sure there are any bad story ideas. Only poorly executed ones. You can write about anything you want as long as you tell the story well. Don’t write off ideas because you think other people won’t like them or they won’t sell well. I know I’ve thrown away plenty of ideas because I thought they would make me look too weird or too nerdy. But I am weird and nerdy. Those ideas are mine, and I should be proud of them. There’s going to be people who don’t like them, but those are my ideas that I enjoy and I’m excited about.

Don’t ever throw away a story idea because you think others won’t like it. I promise you, there will always be people who don’t like what you write, even with your “safe” ideas. But if you write the ideas you love, I can also promise that your passion and your excitement will bleed through the page and fill the reader up with excitement and passion as well. It’s contagious. It doesn’t matter what people say you can or cannot write about. Write the kind of story you enjoy writing. It will always be better if you do.

So, learn how to tell a good story. Understand grammar and sentence structure. Study how to plot a story. Read about what you should or shouldn’t include in a story. Learn, learn, learn… write. Because there’s no better teacher for writing stories than experience. Then, when you understand how to craft a good story that people enjoy and you receive feedback from others, then you can write your crazy idea that’s never been done before.

Write whatever you want! Feel free, and don’t be shy. Just have fun with your work. Which of your story ideas is the greatest? Andrew Mayne puts it best when he says that the greatest idea is the one you’re writing now.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.