If you can't write it, who here could?

[Omenainen]

Though part of that is that I don't see my ideas as precious things. They're a dime a dozen; I have several a day. Yeah, some rise above and stand out, but still, until they're executed, they're just seeds, one of hundreds, or thousands. And if someone takes one on and it doesn't meet my expectations, I can still write my own with it. And idea isn't consumed by being fleshed out.

This is how I see story ideas too. I’m a pantser so I don’t have a lot for anyone else to go on. For example, one of my stories grew from the mental image of a man sitting alone in an empty lobby bar. How is anyone else supposed to write anything from that? I myself don’t know what my stories are about before I’ve written them.

 

[intim8]

only because I can't see any of my ideas benefitting from purple tentacles

I woke up this morning remembering that one of the stories in my "maybe" folder does involve shape-shifting aliens and I put the title "tentacles" on it just as a placeholder.

The idea is that friendly aliens arrive, and they want to understand human nature and society, which of course includes sexuality. A dozen "subjects" are half-consentingly chosen from military ranks to go to a remote property and be studied in a real-life-ish environment (think reality show where hot guys and girls are crammed together in a mansion for a month). The aliens natural form is a gas filled ball, but they can morph to any shape.

They at first become a second skin, only a few cells thick, on the subjects as they go through their day. They can feel every tactile sensation, monitor the subject's biochemical reactions, and analyze brain activity. As they learn, they take on more and more human like shapes and behaviors. Tentacle shapes may or may not be involved at some point.

So, yeah, @EmilyMiller could do a great job with that.

 

[intim8]

For example, one of my stories grew from the mental image of a man sitting alone in an empty lobby bar.

A lot of mine are like that, along with a kind of vibe or mental image that colors the kind of story it is likely to be. I don't think plotters really get how us pantsers can start with that little.

I suppose you could say that that is not really an idea, more of a prompt. But then in that case, pantsing is in big part the process of turning something that vague and simple into a concrete idea.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Then one day you hear somebody else cover one, and it sends shivers down your spine because it's absolutely awful.

All right, I'll bite. What well-known songwriter/artist are you?

 

[lovecraft68]

All right, I'll bite. What well-known songwriter/artist are you?

It's an analogy.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

@EmilyMiller would do anything I was going to do much better.

And @Smuttyandfun is the master of the kind of irreverent and at times over the top style I aspire to.

@onehitwanda 's usage of descriptive metaphor and poetic prose puts anything I, or most of us, have tried to shame.

And @oneagainst 's tangled plots of interconnected characters are the platonic form of the character cross connections I've sprinkled about in my own work.

What a nice compliment, especially since you're such a terrific writer that I often wish I could write more like you!

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'm flattered to see my name mentioned in this thread, but, wow, I'd be the worst person to entrust with your story idea.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I'm flattered to see my name mentioned in this thread, but, wow, I'd be the worst person to entrust with your story idea.

I’d trust you to do a better job than me on a LOT of stories.

 

[oneagainst]

Stories and characters are like songs....
You write them, play them over and over. Love them.
Then one day you hear somebody else cover one, and it sends shivers down your spine because it's absolutely awful.

Breaking the 4th wall, I just finished writing Critical Response 6, which is due to go live on Lit just before the last ch of the next book, around this time next year. In it, the long-running FMC surprised me with her attitude to being consigned to the backlog. It's like a terminal diagnosis, but she took her fate like a champ. No idea where that came from. If I could have saved her from that, I would, but the storyline is finally done.

I guess what I'm saying is that after you're finished, you have to let them free.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I’d trust you to do a better job than me on a LOT of stories.

Thank you, but my point was that the final product would likely have no relation to the original idea.

 

[FifthEstate]

For me it would be @j267. I’ve read very few authors on Lit who do as good a job of creating the angst and anticipation that conflicted stag/cuck husbands endure in the scenario’s they invariably cast themselves and their wives into. Like him, most of my stories are built around these same themes. Neither of us casts our male MC’s as spineless, dickless wimps, but rather as confident, dedicated husband’s who aren’t sure what drives them to see their beautiful wives with other men.

 

[dmallord]

I'd have to give this more thought... An older fellow needs a second moment to ponder some names he follows.

However, I've recently been contacted and asked to write a story for another author. I was flattered, and it was a worthwhile experience sharing those drafts until it reached the point that it was deemed 'finished.'

The requestor's comments were wonderful, especially with a customized personal copy with formatting features not allowed by Lit. It is the closest thing to collaborative writing I have done.

Laurel has it in cue, and it should be out sometime soon—3-5 days? It is a fan/fic story entitled "Max Dates Julie Teeger." Julie Teeger is a character on the old Monk show reprised by Emily Clarke.