Idea Constipation

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  • Idea Constipation

    Ever feel constipated with ideas? That is, suffering from a surplus as opposed to a scarcity of ideas, and feeling equally passionate about all of them and unable to decide which one to go with. What do you do when this happens to you? (Just realized my ideas are the metaphorical equivalent of crap in the title of this scenario, but let's go with it anyway)

  • #2
    Re: Idea Constipation

    Originally posted by grumpywriter View Post
    Ever feel constipated with ideas? That is, suffering from a surplus as opposed to a scarcity of ideas, and feeling equally passionate about all of them and unable to decide which one to go with. What do you do when this happens to you?
    Occasionally, but I strategize and bank the ideas for the future.

    For example, when I'm about halfway done with a draft of something, I'll begin casually outlining what the next one will be.

    So I try and have two things at least going somewhat forward at one time. That way, if I get burnt out for a few days on one, I can switch over to the other.

    I never work on more than two things at once, though.

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    • #3
      Re: Idea Constipation

      Outline. When you have to sit down and write your entire story out in prose form, it becomes very easy to see which ideas will work and which ones won't.
      Chicks Who Script podcast

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      • #4
        Re: Idea Constipation

        One thing that's helped me with this problem: Write loglines for them. That is, try to write loglines for them.

        This offers two benefits, in my experience. First, it helps me understand if I have a movie or just an idea. Second, since at some point whatever I do write will have to be marketed, I find myself gravitating towards my idea for which I've found the most enticing logline. As always, YMMV.

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        • #5
          Re: Idea Constipation

          I used to have this problem. Then I realized I just had to put one foot in front of the other. I read somewhere "Finish this script so I can write the next one." That's helped.

          While you're brainstorming one script, you should be outlining another, going to first draft on a third, and rewriting a fourth. But you have to get to the rewrite in order to be going through all the other projects.

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          • #6
            Re: Idea Constipation

            Good advice above to weed out the weak ideas from the ones with real potential.

            I track all my fledgling ideas in a document (I call mine the Well of Ideas). While I work on my main project I'm also outlining the next one. Many of these ideas die right there, just can't get the story to work or appeal. But something always coalesces into my next B project.

            The difficulty is NOT working on those ideas until it's time for something new. It takes discipline, but the nice thing about writing them down is it lets you let go for a while, knowing you'll get back to it.
            Vancouver Screenwriters Meetup Group

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            • #7
              Re: Idea Constipation

              Great ideas. Thanks, guys. I do usually work on a few things at once, outlining one, rewriting another, starting another, but this morning found myself in the unusual position of not working on anything and having a bunch of new ideas staring back at me with no idea of which one to go with.

              Emily: Outlining is a great idea and I think that's the way to go to eliminating some of these. Just out of curiosity: how detailed are your outlines? Are they scene-by-scene? General descriptions of turning points/act breaks? Something in between?

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              • #8
                Re: Idea Constipation

                Originally posted by ReneC View Post
                The difficulty is NOT working on those ideas until it's time for something new. It takes discipline, but the nice thing about writing them down is it lets you let go for a while, knowing you'll get back to it.
                So true.

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                • #9
                  Re: Idea Constipation

                  If you're equally passionate about all of them ... figure out how they end, a couple big forks in the road along the way, then decide whether they're actually movies. Then prioritize; which ones will best serve your career at the moment?
                  "You have idea 1, you're excited. It flops. You have idea 99, you're excited. It flops.
                  Only a fool is excited by the 100th idea. Fools keep trying. God rewards fools." --Martin Hellman, paraphrased

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                  • #10
                    Re: Idea Constipation

                    Does idea constipation end with a vomit draft, or a different kind of draft?

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                    • #11
                      Re: Idea Constipation

                      Originally posted by BenJacoby View Post
                      Does idea constipation end with a vomit draft, or a different kind of draft?
                      The worst outcome is a sh!tty vomit draft - or the Norodraft.
                      "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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                      • #12
                        Re: Idea Constipation

                        Originally posted by BenJacoby View Post
                        Does idea constipation end with a vomit draft, or a different kind of draft?

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                        • #13
                          Re: Idea Constipation

                          Originally posted by grumpywriter View Post
                          Emily: Outlining is a great idea and I think that's the way to go to eliminating some of these. Just out of curiosity: how detailed are your outlines? Are they scene-by-scene? General descriptions of turning points/act breaks? Something in between?
                          Different people outline in different ways. I know people who do a very structural outline with act beats and midpoints and stuff. I just tell the story in prose form. This, then this, then this.... all while reminding myself what emotional experiences everybody's having in the meantime. When I'm done with them, I know what each scene is going to be, but I don't always know exactly how they'll actually look on the page.
                          Chicks Who Script podcast

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                          • #14
                            Re: Idea Constipation

                            Originally posted by emily blake View Post
                            Different people outline in different ways. I know people who do a very structural outline with act beats and midpoints and stuff. I just tell the story in prose form. This, then this, then this.... all while reminding myself what emotional experiences everybody's having in the meantime. When I'm done with them, I know what each scene is going to be, but I don't always know exactly how they'll actually look on the page.
                            This sounds more like a treatment than an outline, which probably is a better way to break the story initially, to figure out if it has wings. An outline might be better, like a flight plan, after determining if the story can even fly.
                            "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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                            • #15
                              Re: Idea Constipation

                              Ho, this is something that's been hitting me pretty much all the time when I finally get a good idea. It seems all my good ideas hit at once, and than I'm trying to do everything I can.

                              Take, for example, my current attempt: The Shroud. It's meant to be a slasher, but then I ended up mixing a bit of a 'Taken-style' subplot that became a concurrent plot. I finally realized what was happening when I listed the elements of the script off in the logline thread I posted. THis has only ever happened when I don't write out at least a 1-2 page synopsis for each idea. That way, I know what I was going to do when I finally get around to it.

                              I'm having to go through 'The Shroud' as it stands, find the parts that don't belong in a slasher, prune them, and stuff them away for when I come to that idea again (human traffickers targeting religious teens). It might not go anywhere, then again, it might. I'll see in the future. For now, I've got to figure out how to handle damage control on The Shroud.

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