Wednesday, July 13, 2011

John Steinbeck


"Ideas are like rabbits.  You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."












American Novelist


1902 - 1968











Do you ever have too many ideas?  Sometimes when I am writing I am swamped with ideas and sometimes I don't know which ones to choose.  Writing fiction is full of opportunity.  Do you make the main character tall, short or medium height?  Does he have blonde, black or curly hair?  Does he have physical, social or mental disability?  Hundreds of questions.  Thousands of answers.  Sometimes having too many ideas can become a barrier to creating.  Writing fiction requires making choices — choosing a path to follow and not looking back.  The characters take on a life of their own.  





What is the best path to follow?  What are the best choices to make?  Sometimes I have ten ideas, but only two or three are worth keeping.  Don't be afraid of choosing — of following a path to where it takes you.  And keep the ideas coming.  Even bad ideas can lead you somewhere new and inviting.  The good ideas won't appear if there are no bad ideas on which to stand.  Light a candle and watch the ideas grow by leaps and bounds.