Who thinks their ideas are stupid?

Generally I feel like I have great ideas, but they always fall flat when I try to get them out there. =/

All kinds of ideas cross my mind--but I don't usually start writing until I think them through. That goes for novels, anyway.

Short stories? I write those off the top of my head, and have really churned out some crap at times. The nice thing is that since they only represent a few hours of work, I can bin them without a second thought and count them as learning experiences.

It's always the kiss of death for me if I think about how my ideas might be perceived, if they're stupid/silly, or whatever. My litmus test for ideas is to see if they bring me joy. Because if I don't enjoy them, what's the point in writing them?

And at the end of the day, no matter how stupid they might seem, if I liked them and enjoyed them, then at least something positive came from the project.

I don't neccessarily think my ideas are stupid.

Like for my current WIP, I love the story, love love the characters, but I am not sure how it will be received.

It's 3 main character cast, I am used to working with one or two. I make my characters quite complex. And in this book they are in quite a complex situation as well.

I just worry that there is too much busyness going on, and that from the outside looking it, it seems like I have done a bad version of GoT, and just thrown everything at it to see what sticks, when this isn't the case at all. The characters slowly grew into the complex creatures they are, and the world slowly grew around them. I personally think they are fascinating.

BUT it could be perceived as some sort of fast-paced soap opera 3000. Consequently, it caused me to become a bit bummed, and I have had to take a break from writing, since I am now skewed with a certain perspective. I'll probably start writing again today or tommorrow (only a break of a day or two), but goodness knows what will happen at the revision stage. And I have the sort of personality that when I get upset, I'll just chuck a huge tanty and bin the whole thing, counting the whole project as rubbish. Pretty much the manic personality, super highs and super lows.

Maybe I do think my ideas are stupid after all....

allyn211 said:

Because sometimes I do. I wonder if my ideas are too trite, too simplistic, too, well, whatever . . . And then I see the plots of certain movies and TV shows and think that I could write better than that!

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I do the same thing. Then, I see a movie or read a book where the writing is much worse than mine and wonder what is wrong with my work?

I love everything about my ideas. They are exciting, fun and engaging ...until suddenly they're not. I go through periodic bouts of doubt when I really thing what I've written is rubbish (cue rewrite!) But a lot of the time I love writing what I'm writing ...and when a page of dialogue works ...oh man, it's the best!

I think you have to work at keeping self doubt away. I don't mean that we should never be critical of our own work - there's nothing wrong with a little perfectionism! But I think you need to keep your inner monologue confident and positive. Trust your judgement. Do you really think something is not working, and you've given it time? Ok - change it. If you are just doubting everything kick that doubting voice aside and keep writing!

I think if you spend too much time worrying about it, you won't wind up putting in enough time finishing something and trying to get it published.

What's an utterly idiotic premise to one person can be sheer genius for another. The art is to get your work in front of the latter and not the former.

Actually, I don't think my ideas are stupid, only my writing sometimes. I think my ideas are as good as anyone elses. I puposely keep my plots simple. I do have a lot going on in my novels, but I like it simple. I write for young adults and/juveniles so I don't want to overwhelm them. But I like simple plots myself. My writing is a bit archaic which may turn some people off. That is my concern. The readers may feel my writing is stupid. I pretty much write retro scifi. I in a paradox. I want to write novels that are engaging and attractive to today's readers, but I don't want to lose the retro feel of it.

I feel like most of my books could wind up as lifetime movies lol.

I like my ideas, unfortunately I must be the only one because they all get rejected.

Ideas are meaningless. There is no such thing as a good or bad, or smart or stupid, idea.

Give a good writer any idea, and he'll turn it into a good novel. Give a poor writer that same idea, and he'll turn it into a lousy novel.

I'm pretty hard on myself when it comes to ideas for a story. First if it's cliche, then if the characters don't seem to come to life and finally if the plot doesn't make a lick of sense. Yet the story I'm working on is rather wild, and I wonder how people will view it.

Even so, my desire to write the story trumps how I feel about people viewing the story.

I like my novel, but I hate myself for thinking it's not good enough.

Count me in, friend. Or, if I happen to find the idea good enough, I think my execution is poor...

Echo what JAR said. It isn't about ideas, it's about the written execution of the ideas.

Which explains more about my progress in writing than I care to elaborate on.

caw

I always love my ideas. I never stop thinking they are great ideas, even after years have passed and the novel is long since trunked. It's the execution of the idea that inevitably leaves me down in the dumps. It's especially bothersome because I love my ideas so much, that I wish I could execute them better. The writing on paper never lives up to the idea in my mind. Thus, I keep writing to try to improve. Because just once, one day, would I love to have a finished draft that actually lives up to my love of the idea. Hasn't happened yet, which is how I know I'm not good enough yet. Keep working.

I love my ideas, but I only write about what I know and have a passion for. So bad ideas can't really creep into a passion easily. There is certainly a learning curve with rejection and it does take a little experience to master self confidence. Good luck

I have stupid ideas that don't pan out, I can't write plots, and my writing stinks.

The only thing I really, truly care about are my characters--I fall in love with them.

I never think my ideas are stupid, but I do worry if things I think are fascinating will raise a strong enough ripple of interest, for me to sell a decent number of copies.

No, I think my ideas are good. Sometimes other people think they're stupid. But then I usually think those people are stupid. So it's complicated.

I often struggle with finding an idea I can follow through to completion. And some ideas do seem stupid after I've given them some thought. Or maybe the idea isn't so bad, but I don't think I can execute them the way they should be executed. Or after the initial burst of inspiration, I'm completely stuck and have no idea where to go.

I've had a number of revelations as to why some ideas just don't seem to work. Like maybe the story just doesn't suit my writing style. Or maybe I'm simply dreading the time and effort its going to take to complete a story so I decide to try to find an 'easier' idea. But I've realized sometimes you just have to go for it.

I just try to accept the idea is stupid, or cliché, or contrived, or my characters are unlikable, etc and write it anyway. I've always had a bit of an issue putting effort into something that's it's likely no one will likely want to read, but starting over countless times doesn't work either.

I once heard that Steven King originally threw away Carrie before he got too far into the story because he felt he didn't understand teenage girls enough. His wife found the story and told him to finish it. We all know what happens after that.

I do, but it doesn't stop me. *shrugs*

Well, it used to. When I feel a connection to my characters, then I go with it.

I have the unfortunate tendency to think my ideas are stupid once I'm about 2/3 of the way through whatever I'm writing. Sometimes I reread and realize it's not as bad as I'm making it out to be... others- I scrap when I realize I am without a doubt- correct.

spikeman4444 said:

I always love my ideas. I never stop thinking they are great ideas, even after years have passed and the novel is long since trunked. It's the execution of the idea that inevitably leaves me down in the dumps.

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This.