Good midweek, everyone~
When you have a ton of ideas for one project, what do you tend to do? Do you pick and choose which ones you like best and ignore the rest, or do you find ways to accommodate all of them?
I like to do a bit of both; whatever I can't accommodate, whether in the main body or as a spin-off, I put into the idea graveyard.
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Good midweek, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. Idea graveyard. :D I pick and choose which ideas I like best/work best for the story and save the other ideas in case I use them later. Sometimes I save ideas for future scripts.
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That's good Maurice Vaughan. My idea graveyard really just means those ideas are permanently buried lol like I had a half-formed idea for an action feature but ultimately it didn't take, so off to the graveyard it went. Maybe it'll get resurrected down the line... but until then it rests as my existing ideas with action get my attention lol (still praying for a return to Seed)
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While I feel like the last two I wrote, for some unknown, mythological reason... really pushed me to be strict on what ideas made it through, which helped me be less pressured by too many ideas. They just felt so specific that I knew which didn't belong without too much thought. Usually, I'm a mess with 8,000,000 ideas of which two work haha
However, I absolutely still have an idea graveyard for both. I think given HOW strict I was, it made me realize that I always have to ask myself two questions: "Does this really belong in this story, and if it does, how does it advance and elevate each character and plot point?" If I can't answer those easily or at all... then it goes in the graveyard. Though sometimes they get resurrected later on, which is cool. I like it when that happens.
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh Sometimes I put all the ideas into one transcript/script, then I realize I'm confusing the purpose & as I edit, I save the brilliant ideas in a folder I may never see again. It could be a graveyard... but I'm hoping to bring life to some of those darlins later in my life - if I live that long. : )
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I'm the same way Martin Graham, which is why precious few of my ideas from high school avoided the graveyard. It's good to be strict because some ideas look good but don't have a lot of substance, and as such, ought to be left behind. Of course, you can also have the opposite issue; an idea so potent that it's a guaranteed kudzu plot bomb, and that also belongs in the graveyard lol
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh I couldn't get three feature scripts to work (unfinished first drafts), so I combined them into one script.
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I typically at least try them out in the script in the first draft. I'll often find though I have to cut stuff for length/pace and I usually find it's some of the extra ideas that are easiest to let go and save for later!
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I feel that Debbie Seagle, I have some little ideas that are still just seeds, and I hope I can still write them one day, but I do tend to be a bit fickle; hence my three-day rule that naturally ensures the weaker ideas go to The Graveyard if I'm over them within three days. Some of these ideas I'm already losing interest in either because I've already fulfilled them in an existing project, or I simply don't want to do them anymore.
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That's a good idea Maurice Vaughan, I did that for a smaller story that wasn't strong enough to survive on its own, so I made it an in-universe novel in my third life's work What Separates Us.
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That's also me Pat Alexander. I've found I also have to cut ideas that give so much they risk overtaking the initial main plot (ie, kudzu plot)--it's not always the weak ones that are a problem!
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh A good way I’ve managed the “too many ideas at once” problem is by figuring out what format each idea actually belongs to, whether it is a movie idea, a TV series seed, a single scene, or just a cool moment.
Anything that feels like a full movie, I immediately put into a document with a quick outline and a logline. That way, it is saved, organized, and ready for easy use later.
For action ideas, stunts, fighting beats, weapons, or utility mechanics, I separate those into images or small reference files I can pull up anytime. Categorizing them lets me drop them into new projects whenever they fit naturally.
It is the same way I used to work when songwriting. I would keep extra lyrics and plug them into the right song when the moment came. Keeping everything sorted makes creativity much smoother.
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That is a great system Dwayne Williams 2, I've pretty much adopted that with the ideas that stick out to me the most. Sometimes they belong in other stories as details or one-offs.
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Focus on the strongest one of them and draw inspiration from the others to make your choice even stronger.