Tuesday's Inspiration - The Seeds of the story #MFRWauthor #Amwriting

Suddenly the idea appears. This is the seed for a story. So what do you do. Some people plunge right in writing thousands of words and then they're stuck. The idea has run out of steam. So what do others do when there is a seed for a story.

Not sure about what others do but I take that idea and plant is deeply in my unconscious mind and allow it to germinate. Sometimes. Other times I play around with the idea adding little bits of newness to the idea. Then I bury it again and allow the idea to germinate.

Ideas are always inspiring but not all ideas will ever bear fruit. Sometimes that idea is limited in its scope. Sometimes that idea needs a catalyst to make it germinate. I'm working on an idea that came to me when I was writing the first few books in a small series. Books one and two were finished and I was sure I knew the idea for the third book had come. But it didn't. The seed never sprouted then. So I put it with all those other seeds that seemed to go nowhere. Until several weeks ago.

The seed sprouted and sent tendrils in many directions. I sat and followed those tendrils and suddenly I had a sort of outline for the story. At least I thought I did. Then the story stalled. I put it away for almost a week. Some of the tendrils had died leaving others to flourish. This time the plan for the story emerged from beginning to end.

The moral of this is that most story ideas need time to germinate. Forcing them seldom works. So bury them for a bit longer and go onto another idea. When the seed is ready to sprout, you'll know.