Today’s You Tell Me comes from reader Paulina Petrova, who writes:
I wonder if other writers talk to someone else about their idea (the plot of their story) while writing their novel or feel that when they do this they kill their muse.
I often wondered about this before I wrote WONDERBAR. Does it kill the magic if you say the idea out loud? Does it cripple you with doubts if the person you’re telling doesn’t get it? Should you get it down on paper first and then see what the world thinks?
Or does it help to tease out the idea aloud? Does that early feedback save you time and effort?
What say you?
I definitely can't keep it all to myself, so my poor wife constantly gets peppered with the most loaded question a humorist can ask:
Is this funny?
Some ideas live wholly on the page until they are nearly complete. Others are born during conversations (usually incredibly goofy ones) and continue to be batted about until they make enough sense to deserve print.
Bouncing ideas or questions off another writer can be helpful in times when you are stuck. The other writer might not provide helpful advice, but the blockage is breaking up and the creativity is flowing again from just listening to another perspective.
I have learned to keep my ideas to myself while I'm writing. I am vulnerable to naysayers, and so I find it is best if I write the story and then talk about it.
I also tend to be a little protective of my ideas. On the off chance I actually get a good one, I want to keep it for myself. I'm selfish that way.
I talk about my ideas with reader friends and writer friends, but only my husband gets the "So I have this idea…" spiel and he is pretty quick to tell me if I should maybe keep that to myself or give it a try.
I don't really have a muse, at least, I don't think I do, not the way many people seem to give life to the idea of muse. So I don't feel like I lose it by talking about it.
I do experience blushing, sweating, and tongue-tied stuttering when I attempt to describe my work to someone new, all the while feeling like I'm speaking an alien language. While I don't fear criticism of my writing, I'm terrified of people thinking my idea sounds completely stupid. Their reaction doesn't usually stop me from doing it anyway though.
I'm actively experimenting with this by posting every day's writing online at First Million Words. I'm finding that while I don't discuss the ideas before hand (due to brainstorming them on the go as I write), the active encouragement that comes from sharing the creative process really does help!
I say NOTHING before I start. And I say PRACTICALLY nothing until it's done.
I definately think that while in the midst of writeing your first draft that you should keep your ideas to your self to maintain the purity of the creative process.
However, once you get into the second draft you should definately find someone to bounce your ideas off of which is in the best interest of telling a better story.
Good question. I'm reluctant to share widely because a new idea can feel so vulnerable, but it can be productive to brainstorm with the right person. It should be someone sensitive enough to understand that all a writer really needs at this point is to hear the words "keep going."
I talk to my husband about everything. He helps me to flesh out my ideas with his questions and observations. But I have the benefit of being married to a kindred spirit.
I do share ideas with my family sometimes, though as Sommer said, they usually come out sounding very incoherent – sprinkled with "Wait, I can't tell you that; it'll spoil the plot." I like them to be surprised by twists when I give it to them to read.
It works both ways – I can recall trying to share an idea and becoming temporarily depressed over how confused and uninspired it sounded, and on the other hand, sometimes talking it out restores my faith in a concept and gives me unexpected new ideas for it. It depends.
I do like to disgust the outline of my idea with my boyfriend, but once I start writing, things get pretty private.
I finally discussed the plot of my novel with a really good girlfriend of mine who sees the world pretty much as I do even though I'm Scottish and she is American. I'd kept it to myself for ages thinking it was the bees knees. Cue complete silence at the end of the phone. One big damp squid of a reaction. Guess it's back to the drawing board then!
I'm venturing into new territory (all around) with my new story, so I shared the ideas, and some of the first scenes, with a couple of my critique partners. It helped to get an early impression.
Most often, I try to stay mum about what I am writing for as long as I can stand it.
I fear saying that I will do something out loud will jinx its completion. I am superstitious that way.
Or, maybe I am just afraid that if people know what I am doing, and I don't finish it, they'll think I am wishy-washy.
I say nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, I won't even say I've got a good idea for something. When asked what I'm working on, I'll just shrug and say, "I don't know. Stuff."
My hubby is the only one I talk to about plot while I'm writing the first draft. He's a huge help when I'm talking through different ideas. After I finish, I share it w/ my awesome critique partners.
Well, my mother gave me the push I needed to start my current novel! I was just beginning to query my last MS, and I was pretty discouraged, so she suggested I focus on something else. I had a couple different ideas and I ran them all by her. When I started explaining them out loud, we both realized that one of those ideas was a lot more detailed than the rest. She told me that one sounded the most interesting.
That conversation really flipped a switch in my brain – a few weeks later, I had a complete first chapter.
I like bouncing ideas off other people, but I'm particular about who I share them with. My sister is an excellent brainstormer, so I always use her and I've been surprised that when I've shared with others they were actually excited about my story ideas and wanted to help brainstorm too.
How much do I share of an idea before I write it? Not so much. I don't know that it kills the muse exactly, but it seems to derail things if I go into too much detail. Even after the actual writing has started, I don't often say too much. Every now and then I'll mention something in a blog post or on my fb writer page, kind of like a teaser, but I don't go into the actual plot or even give characters' names.
There are a handful of people I talk to about my writing, but I can only talk about it once I've started it. If it's still a little spark of an idea I can't talk about it yet. Once it's started, though, the people I do talk about it with hear about it a LOT.
I can't tell just anyone, though. They have to be close friends.
Oooh, tricky. I think discussing an idea is a part of the process that has to be figured out. I generally can't keep quiet, but find that I get better reactions if I just hunker down, do the work, and talk later. But that's only a recent discovery.
However, when I hit a snag I definitely start asking my friends random questions that relate to the story. Stuff like: "What would you do if you found out the man/woman you loved was a robot? Would you go all Crying Game?" "When is it okay to bring your chihuahua on safari?" "Tell me your philosophy of magenta."
Mostly I get funny looks.
Like others here, I don't like to talk about what I'm writing. Maybe it's a superstitious thing.
Too much. I figure things out as I write them out or talk them out, so the trouble is that people think I'm going with the first idea I talk about. Usually that's just my starting point so when I come back with the more developed plot, they say 'whoa…I thought you were doing this…" Oops.
Normally I tend to keep the ideas to myself. The only time I'll share is if I'm beginning to jot down ideas or really get started on it, in which case I'll talk to my husband about it and that's it!
If I talk about an idea, it's dead. It's not that I'm worried someone will "steal" my idea. I lose my energy for it. I know several writers who LOVE to talk about what they're working on and get frustrated with me when I won't do the same. I've found a few other pitfalls in sharing ideas: 1) someone invariably says, "Oh, that kind of sounds like NAME OF FAMOUS BOOK" or 2) the people I shared the idea with constantly ask, "So how is PROJECT X coming?" as if every time they see me I should be done with it.
But mostly: talking about an idea to other people kills the energy.
My husband is my silent partner as my story winds through each new or unexpected twist or turn. He's invaluable as sounding board, critic and fan. I'll also feed my mother excerpts as she's painfully honest in her observations and a stickler for accuracy and good grammar She's my biggest fan and my toughest critic.
I always keep it to myself. Once I've written something then I start to take it out of its secure place to be ridiculed and flailed about.
I've only written the one, so I can't call it a trend or anything, but I definitely did not talk about it much before at least finishing the first draft.
I love bouncing my ideas off people, mainly because they can usually (and easily) spot the holes and awkward areas in the story before I even realize they're there. But I'm also plagued by the fear of spoiling it for them, in case they end up reading it. I personally hate spoilers…if I'm going to read something, I'd rather go in blind than have helped with the creation process. 🙁
I think talking the idea out with someone is beneficial in that they can help strengthen your fledgling plot and help iron out some holes before you put the first word down. I usually run an idea by either my wife who is an English professor or a friend who is also a writer. I trust their judgement as to whether my idea is interesting enough to pursue. I discussed the ideas for the last two novels I wrote with them and I feel they came out better than just winging it and hoping the idea was exciting to someone other than me.
I find that, while talking it out can take away some of the 'magic' of an idea, it really helps me identify the strengths and weaknesses of my idea. My one rule: the person I'm sharing my idea with MUST be familiar with the genre I'm planning on writing in.
I've found through hard experience that if I bounce ideas off someone who doesn't appreciate the genre in general, they're not going to understand the idea or appreciate the setting I'm couching it in. And when your confidant gives a blank, lifeless stare or a raised eyebrow and skeptical critique, it becomes at least twice as hard to believe in your idea (and, thus, to write it).
I sometimes share with my boyfriend, who mostly reads non-fiction and doesn't necessarily "get" the kinds of genres I tend to read or write. I would probably prefer not to share it with someone who might actually WANT to read it until I have something down. I wouldn't want to feel discouraged if anyone thought my idea sounded like crap as I have enough of my own doubts already! 🙂
I only share ideas with my hubby. For me, talking about the ideas out loud actually helps spark more ideas. Not to mention, it helps refine the thoughts I have already and really get to the core of the themes.
Does it kill the magic if I say it out loud? Not at all. Sometimes it helps me focus. Besides, my agent likes her authors to discuss their story ideas with her before diving in to the writing. I'm all for that sort of brainstorming help. I always tell tell my husband. Beyond that, I'll tell anyone who directly asks what the story is about, keeping it as vague as I'm comfortable with.
I can't talk about it till I'm deep into it, and even then it's doubtful. It dies once I say it out loud, and then if I get that blank look of enhhh…it's toast.
So I prefer to wait till I know it's wonderful. LOL. I'm needy that way.
Does it cripple you with doubts if the person you're telling doesn't get it?
YES! Which is why I usually avoid it at first. I'm not a good elevator pitch person. And I've had the experience of jabbering on, only to have the person across from me sort of glaze over with "HUH? You really think you can pull that off?" And then I usually end with something like "well I've got to play with it for awhile" If I want immediate feedback on some section of my novel, then I don't have a problem bouncing it off of someone, but big, nebulous, crux of the novel sort of issues…can't share until I've written it.
I'm a strong believer that talking about your project is a good way to use up its energy. That's why you want to do it so bad, because that energy is just itching to get out. So put it on the paper.
That's how it seems to work for me
I find that if I let too much out of the bag ahead of time, I lose some of the drive to tell the story. So I stick with a general one line description that, hopefully, leaves them wanting to know more.
I talk to my writers' group about the theme and concept, ask them about stuff that I need to work out. But if I talk too much, I think I start short-handing the scenes themselves because on some level I think "well, they already know that." But the reader doesn't — it's just the people I've spoken to! 🙁 Once I'm deep in the draft, I stop talking.
Ideas are tinker toys to me. I play with them in my head, and I don't have to worry about anyone breaking them. So, no I don't share my ideas until they are in a shareable format eg a completed story.
I spent several hours once telling my entire story to a close friend, and I not only found it inspirational but was encouraged when he exclaimed that I simply must get it written. He was stunned by how much detail I knew about a book that I had only begun.
I find that talking out the story with someone helps me to come up with even more ideas.
I bombard my family with the stories I write. I can't help myself, I just want to share the excitement.
Once in a while, I'll bring up an problematic issue with my critique partner, but really I do most of my rambling to my family.
I've always like talking out a story with a goody writer friend. Recently, though, I've been having trouble writing after getting feedback. So, for right now anyway, I'm not talking about my writing. Not even which project I'm working on.
We'll see if that works.
There are 8 people in my critique group, and we all know each others stories and characters very well from the moment of idea conception. I think it is healthy to talk about it openly, because if any part of it sucks, you are aware of that early, and can either fix it, or move on.
I don't give a lot of details away to my friends. They only know I'm at it again. I do, however, share my ideas with my husband. Then when I start writing, I don't like to answer questions he may have until I've completed the rough draft.
I really have to talk to people about it. That's partly because I'm excited about it, but mostly because as I'm sorting out the plot and outlining, I really need to talk it out. I need someone who can point out the obvious plot holes that I'm missing and someone I can toss ideas around with when I'm stumped. Even when the ideas aren't particularly helpful, just talking through them helps me realize *why* they aren't helpful, which helps me figure out what does need to happen.
So yeah, generally speaking as soon as I start tossing ideas around, I'm running them by someone. The trick is just making sure the person I'm running them by doesn't mind. With everyone else I'm actually pretty stingy when it comes to talking about my writing, but that's because I've learned that most people don't want to hear more than a simple little summary. If they ask questions, I'll answer, but I keep it brief.
I share chapters of my novel with my critique group. Sometimes we share where the story leads, but usually not.
It's a pretty close-knit group. We all write for different audiences and in different genres. Since they are sharing their best ideas with me, I feel comfortable sharing mine with them.
But still I'm guarded about what I share.
Watch the word. I'm superstitious like that. Once I've said I'm going to do, I've got to do. I say what I do; do what I say. My word is my bond.
So I try not to let the cat out of the bag until I'm fully committed. When I discuss an idea, it's about solidifying the idea by expressing it and seeing how it flies, whether it needs more work, sounds silly, or is so far over the top it's out of reach.
The Huntress is my Muse. She won't like it if I wantonly slaughter ideas, make promises I can't keep. I'm held to a high standard always just out of reach. I've reached farther than the previous height, can't quite reach the next, reaching for the next in turn, scratching at the belly of the idea sky.
Sharing an idea prematurely might wear it out in other people's minds.
Worse, they become so sensitized to the idea that they're caught up by it and aren't coming fresh to it anymore like intended readers will. We become so familiar with the idea discussing it that we no longer see the forest of the whole for the trees of the particulars we've discussed. The former needs to be on the page. The latter might not make it there.
I usually brainstorm with the publisher through e-mails. After we go back and forth and agree on the idea and storyline. I then do whatever the hell I want…lol.