The Life and Death of Story Ideas

My writing output yesterday, other than my short blog post, consisted of a few texts and goodreads status updates (I love goodreads, by the way).

My boys and work kept me very busy of course. When I did have a little time to myself, I was brainstorming possible, new story ideas. I was in that about-to-fall-asleep state, so I remember feeling like I had a good idea. But if I did, I have no recollection of it.

I still have some boxes to unpack, and a lot of stuff that is unpacked is not exactly organized. Being unorganized makes it feel hard to rework/revise some older stories. I need a more refined process for stories in progress.

When I get a story and/or character ideas, I run with them. I type my ideas out, I write parts freehand, and I may even record passages on my phone. But there comes a point where the story is a jumbled mess of crap, be it good or bad. At this point, I need to generate some kind of outline..or something (really not sure what I need at this point). This is where I often feel discourages and get stuck. It is not as exciting or fun. But I have to do a better job of pushing through.

I also allow my lack of an organized method prevent me from moving forward. So I let the story sit. And it dies a slow death.

I'm hoping resurrection, in some form or another, is possible.