Half an idea is better than no idea.
About 6 months ago, I had a vague story idea pop into my head. This would be a return to fantasy after working on a lot of sci-fi the past few years.
The idea had to do with a world featuring humans and another sentient race (based on the Dragonborn of D&D, but with a different name for many reasons). There would be a little magic, mysticism, and other elements of fantasy.
However, it would also take a slightly different approach. Rather than the usual medieval setting, my world is going to have some technology like electricity, battery power, communications, airships, and the like. Maybe a little Steampunk, but not Steampunk (is there such a thing as Solarpunk or Batterypunk? Would this be me inventing these?) It will be primarily fantasy with swords, sorcery, and such.
I drew a map of my world. Graph paper, FYI, is great for this purpose. Yes, I draw such maps by hand. No, when the story is created and ready to be published, I will hire a better artist to take these maps to the next level. I did a bunch of worldbuilding, creating some great backstories and other elements.
I even came up with the protagonist. A few different plot ideas swam in my head, but I can’t get past half an idea.
This is where I’m facing a creative dilemma.
Writing as a pantser or planner to develop an idea
There are, in my experience, two primary kinds of writers in the world. Pantsers and planners.
As a pantser, you write by the seat of your pants. What this comes down to is sitting at your keyboard or with a blank journal and doing the work. You write as ideas come into your head, and characters wind up in situations, scenes come into being, and the story is shaped as you write. Some approach this with a plot in mind, but as a pantser, I tended to have more of a vague story than a fully cogent plot.
Conversely, as a planner, you begin with a plan. Worldbuilding is often the starting point, however, it’s also possible to have the plot as your starting point. Then you take the time to develop places, tech, characters, backstory, and the world on multiple levels. Writing the actual story comes after the development and planning.
There is no hard and fast rule for pantsers or planners. The main element between them is working from a pre-set plan or not. As a pantser, I wrote all of the published and unpublished parts of The Source Chronicles fantasy series, as well as 4 out of 5 books in my Void Incursion series.
Planners work their plan to a greater or lesser degree. For example, I know a planner who has quotes from characters as she outlines the chapter.
For most of my writing career, the idea of being a pantser held little to no appeal. Doesn’t that stifle creativity? However, I had a change of heart.
Transitioning from pantser to planner
In 2020, I had a new sci-fi idea. It began with me thinking about the first mention of the Clone Wars in Star Wars (Episode IV) by Obi-Wan. I always thought, before Lucas did the prequels, that this involved a war fought with clones on both sides (or clones vs non-clones). This led to an idea, however. What if, war over, you now have tens of thousands of clones without a job? Do they become protected, or an underclass? What happens?
From there, I started worldbuilding. This would lead to the idea behind Forgotten Fodder, and for the first time, I had an overarching plot to work from. Though I initially thought planning would end with the plot for each book in the series, I found myself doing a chapter-by-chapter outline.
Then I made another incredible discovery. Writing as a planner meant my plot was stronger and better defined. The chapters rambled less and drove the story forward more. Rather than stifle my creativity, planning honed it.
I made a choice from there. Going forward, planning has become part of all future stories. I feel that writing as a planner allows me to build a stronger, more interesting plot and reduces meandering in my storytelling.
However, pantser elements are not bad, per se. I can, as such, write on the fly. This is great for professional content creation purposes and writing blog posts like this one.
What does this have to do with running with half an idea?
Why is half an idea bugging me?
I equally love sci-fi and fantasy. Although sci-fi is my first love, a good fantasy story thrills me.
After reading nearly all sci-fi for the last year and a half or so, I just read something fantasy. It was an amazing book called The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S. A. Chakraborty. Pirates, magic, humor, adventure, and a great story from a part of the world admittedly alien to me. Yet it was a great departure, and I can’t wait to read more if she continues it.
While I’m working on a new sci-fi novel and altering/editing my completed Savagespace series, this fantasy idea I began last year is sitting in my brain demanding attention. However, it’s only half an idea. I have maybe half the plot in mind, but it’s incomplete. Also, since the original worldbuilding, I’ve developed some new ideas for how to approach this story, contributing to it being half an idea.
The other issue is self-discipline. Though I strive to write at least 1500 words of fiction a day (every weekday), all too often I fall short. For example, three weeks ago I made my goal only 4 days a week. Yet the following week, I achieved my goal 0 days, and last week only 2 days. The days I fail at achieving my goal aren’t necessarily days of no writing at all. Just not reaching my 1500-word minimum goal.
Hence, does playing with half an idea help or hurt me? Given that writing is a compulsion and brings me joy, I presume this helps me.
The biggest issue is that having only half an idea is driving me slightly crazy.
Crazier, not crazy
So, yeah, I’m always at least a little crazy. This idea is pecking away at my brain demanding attention. It’s up to me to determine how to run with half an idea and what that might look like.
The main thing is that I’m not about to start writing the story. My need to better format my plot has become too important to disregard. Running with half an idea, in this context, is going to be about formulating a more complete plan. More planning before writing. However, planning and plotting, and writing out what I come up with, does count as part of my 1500-word daily minimum.
There is something about this new idea that’s very exciting to me. However, given some new things I’m learning from all that I’m reading, I need to have a more complete plan. So, I think running with this half an idea is something to be done and I need to accept that this will entail more plotting and planning before writing can begin. The outline that I started might need to be discarded and replaced. That’s okay.
Welcome to the crazy this is my brain.
What do you do when you have half an idea to work from and are unsure what the other half might be?
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you, I conclude with this: How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?
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