When an Old Idea Becomes a New Idea

I've mentioned (several times) how important I find artwork when it comes to getting ideas, and even building on them. It's something that's always happened, but has been even stronger during the last few years.

The other day, I stumbled on a very cool image on Twitter. One featuring someone covering their face while red-eyed demons hovered behind them. At first, I thought it was cool. Then, I realised how well this pic fit with an idea I had several years back. 

An idea I remember writing notes about, getting excited about. An idea that went nowhere. That happens sometimes. I've actually got a handful of ideas I'm currently researching, collecting pics for and taking notes... even though I know they're not ready to be written yet. 

Some ideas come almost fully formed and are pretty much ready to be written right away--like the 3 first drafts I wrote last year--others need some heavy percolating. This can take months, or even years. All the pieces start coming together but are just too far from each other to connect yet. And that's okay.

Just like stories, every idea sets its own pace and rules. Mostly my process is similar for all projects, but never identical.

That's why I don't get rid of files. I don't want to lose anything. Even if I've placed a WIP on hiatus, like a bunch of sequels I had planned for books no longer published.

Anyway, after last year's sorting & purge of all my writing files, everything is much easier to find. So I looked up this particular idea and was surprised to find that I'd written quite a few handy plot notes already. I'd even written the first chapter! 

So now I have a legit folder set up for what I'm calling SKETCH. There are about 40 inspirational pics, a tiny bit of research and a doc with the character names, story details and quotes. Oh, and I can't forget the first chapter! But the most important thing is that the spark I'd lost has been reignited, to the point where I'm super excited about this story and have snippets dropping into my head all the time. o_O

Man, I've said it before and I'll say it again, writing sometimes feels like magic.

There you have it. This is (some of) what I've had on my mind lately. I haven't posted anything for a few weeks, so I thought this would be a cool thing to chat about.

Have a great weekend!