Ideas are easy, but letting go of them isn’t necessarily. You have have bad ideas, but more importantly, you have to let those bad ideas go.
I spent eight years trying to write book once, only to realize I knew nothing about writing a book. I scrapped the idea and started over. The next book idea stuck with me for about six years and I spent two trying to write it, only to once again realize I had nothing. I scrapped it and started over.
I’d started five different full-length plays before I found an idea to take all the way to the finish line. And once I’d finished it, I stuck it in a drawer where no one will ever see it and started over.
It’s a process and I’m getting better at it. I had three different idea for novels just yesterday, but I know none of them will see the light of day. You have to let go of the bad ideas before you can have a good idea.
The trick is knowing a good idea when you see it.
joshua chamberlain 