Story Schizophrenia
Story Schizophrenia: Does this happen to you too?
Sometimes I wonder if I chose writing, or if writing chose me. As long as I can remember, my head his been full of stories that reproduce faster than bacteria on a bathroom doorknob. And just like all intrusive thoughts, they seem to burst through my subconscious, or wherever they come from, very loudly as to interrupt an important task. Conveniently, these intrusive thoughts are as silent as a black hole when I have a pen and paper on hand because they would cease to be “intrusive” by definition. These stories, always incomplete, make themselves appear while I am driving in my car, doing household chores, or trying to get paperwork done. Sometimes I wish I had an off switch to turn the idea factory off so I can be normal, fully functional, and fully present, but I exist between two realities. I am always halfway here and halfway there; partially listening, smelling, and seeing the real world while also watching and listening to another scene unfold in my mind’s eye. Does this happen to you too?
What do you do about it? I spent the last half hour listing the unfinished stories, finished outlines, and story ideas on my Notes app and immediately felt overwhelmed by the wave of creativity that scrambled my attention maintenance molecules. I have the time to continue or finish one of my stories, but there are so many stories I cannot decide which one to work on. Some of the stories have been left unfinished so long that I’ve lost all momentum and inspiration for them, but I don’t want to abandon them. Others are little more fresh and I can probably pick up where I left off a few months ago, but I am afraid to rush through them for the sake of finishing. It’s a conundrum because I truly believe finishing the story will give my brain peace of mind or at least open some free space; but free space will allow the bacteria to spread. So, I’ve turned to the internet for help.
What do you do about it? I spent the last half hour listing the unfinished stories, finished outlines, and story ideas on my Notes app and immediately felt overwhelmed by the wave of creativity that scrambled my attention maintenance molecules. I have the time to continue or finish one of my stories, but there are so many stories I cannot decide which one to work on. Some of the stories have been left unfinished so long that I’ve lost all momentum and inspiration for them, but I don’t want to abandon them. Others are little more fresh and I can probably pick up where I left off a few months ago, but I am afraid to rush through them for the sake of finishing. It’s a conundrum because I truly believe finishing the story will give my brain peace of mind or at least open some free space; but free space will allow the bacteria to spread. So, I’ve turned to the internet for help.
Deciding Which Story Idea to Write
After spending some time surfing the web, I found a few articles written by authors who have experienced a barrage of story ideas as well and I’ve compiled a list of helpful advice. Not every idea needs to be a novel so decide whether or not the story is full enough to be a novel. Write a synopsis for the idea and figure out what you are trying to tell the world. If the synopsis is something you are very excited about, start working on an outline to help you structure the story. Once the outline is done, completing the story becomes much easier.
The next thing to look for in your ideas are strong voices, characters, or scenes that you can build the story around. What is the message you are trying to convey to the world through your characters? Strong characters are easy to write because you know them so well. Look to real life people in your life or media and craft a caricature around them. Then you can write the character by thinking about what that person would do.
Try to remember when and where you got the idea and try to go back to the place where inspiration to that story originated. If it came to you at a certain park, go there again to be re-inspired by the sights, sounds, and smells of the park. If it is a show, book, or song, ingest as much of it as you can to get more ideas. Stay in that zone until you have enough material to finish your story.
Focus on one idea at a time and make it your aim in life to finish. Don’t listen to the voice in your head telling you the story sucks and no one is going to like it because every writer thinks that and it’s never… usually never true. Remember, Mozart and Beethoven wrote hundreds of song and only a handful of them were real bangers, but they didn’t know that from the beginning. You never know which story is going to be a hit, but the more you produce, the more likely it is for one of them to shine. “Write drunk and edit sober” so you can at least finish in creative mode, then edit rationally later.
Writing this article has helped me refocus and given me a plan of action. I hope it has done the same for you. I’m going to hunker down and finish one of my stories. Leave me a comment if this has encouraged you at all or if you have any helpful advice.
After spending some time surfing the web, I found a few articles written by authors who have experienced a barrage of story ideas as well and I’ve compiled a list of helpful advice. Not every idea needs to be a novel so decide whether or not the story is full enough to be a novel. Write a synopsis for the idea and figure out what you are trying to tell the world. If the synopsis is something you are very excited about, start working on an outline to help you structure the story. Once the outline is done, completing the story becomes much easier.
The next thing to look for in your ideas are strong voices, characters, or scenes that you can build the story around. What is the message you are trying to convey to the world through your characters? Strong characters are easy to write because you know them so well. Look to real life people in your life or media and craft a caricature around them. Then you can write the character by thinking about what that person would do.
Try to remember when and where you got the idea and try to go back to the place where inspiration to that story originated. If it came to you at a certain park, go there again to be re-inspired by the sights, sounds, and smells of the park. If it is a show, book, or song, ingest as much of it as you can to get more ideas. Stay in that zone until you have enough material to finish your story.
Focus on one idea at a time and make it your aim in life to finish. Don’t listen to the voice in your head telling you the story sucks and no one is going to like it because every writer thinks that and it’s never… usually never true. Remember, Mozart and Beethoven wrote hundreds of song and only a handful of them were real bangers, but they didn’t know that from the beginning. You never know which story is going to be a hit, but the more you produce, the more likely it is for one of them to shine. “Write drunk and edit sober” so you can at least finish in creative mode, then edit rationally later.
Writing this article has helped me refocus and given me a plan of action. I hope it has done the same for you. I’m going to hunker down and finish one of my stories. Leave me a comment if this has encouraged you at all or if you have any helpful advice.
