I never expected that I would be following up Prompting Ideas with another post ... but here I am. Over the last week I have been totally blown away, firstly by the generosity of people to share how they come by their ideas. Thank you to Eamon, Tricksy Pixie, Dan, Smiler and Catherine for sharing what works with you. It’s such a change of pace to be sharing what works, rather than what doesn’t.
What none of us spoke of was sharing our ideas with others. I have to admit that normally this would not readily spring to mind – but the past week has been an epiphany in that respect.
I shared an idea with a couple of family members and a close friend, who all gave me their overwhelming support for my idea. Then I shared the idea with a colleague who got even more excited about it than I did … and from humble beginnings (remember the drip concept), to the light bulb flash … something big, possibility really big is brewing – but it only happened when I shared it.
Had I not shared, I probably would have over thought the idea, looked at it from too many angles, searching for reasons why it could not or would not work, until I had beaten it to death with my own sense of pessimism and commited it to the waste paper basket of my mind. But this time I didn’t.
This gives me great confidence in sharing my ideas. Now, from a creative angle, its time to have the confidence to start sharing plots, characters, idiosyncrasies with others and relish the feedback that comes from sharing. As they say – “from little things, big things grow.”
So … go forth and share your ideas … an idea shared is an idea fertilised!
What none of us spoke of was sharing our ideas with others. I have to admit that normally this would not readily spring to mind – but the past week has been an epiphany in that respect.
I shared an idea with a couple of family members and a close friend, who all gave me their overwhelming support for my idea. Then I shared the idea with a colleague who got even more excited about it than I did … and from humble beginnings (remember the drip concept), to the light bulb flash … something big, possibility really big is brewing – but it only happened when I shared it.
Had I not shared, I probably would have over thought the idea, looked at it from too many angles, searching for reasons why it could not or would not work, until I had beaten it to death with my own sense of pessimism and commited it to the waste paper basket of my mind. But this time I didn’t.
This gives me great confidence in sharing my ideas. Now, from a creative angle, its time to have the confidence to start sharing plots, characters, idiosyncrasies with others and relish the feedback that comes from sharing. As they say – “from little things, big things grow.”
So … go forth and share your ideas … an idea shared is an idea fertilised!
3 comments:
That's an interesting and refreshing take on the topic, since most writing books suggest NOT sharing ideas, especially for fiction/novels. I've always enjoyed sharing my ideas with a writing buddy, but I've limited my discussions to that one person. I'm interested to hear if other people share their ideas or not...
This is a really good point - and probably also why I've in the past been a little reticent to share my ideas.
I guess sharing in the really early stages of an idea is where (for me) the danger lies ... if you don't seem to really 'own' your idea. Also, especially when it comes to Fiction Friday - I dont like to share my ideas in case they cloud other people's ideas.
I can see sharing working best when its a reasonably well developed idea and you're looking to flesh it out further, or if you want someone to look for loops or huge gaping holes. I believe that everyone has something to offer, even if you dont think so at the time.
The idea that I was speaking of in the original post is a business and structural idea, more so than a truly creative idea (though really where to you separate them - all business ideas have at their core an element of creativity) .. but the experience of sharing has shown me what a rich and rewarding experience it can be ... however I only chose a few trusted people to share it with ... and people I knew would firstly a)honour the idea as my own and not try to steal it b) would be encouraging and c)would be honest in regards to its merits.
Viva the idea
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