Over the Christmas break I got an idea for a novel I want to write. It was magic. The idea was pure energy, and I had an amazing amount of focus. It’s like I could see the whole story arc in my head: characters, complications, climax… It was all right there.
Unfortunately, when I approached my agent with the idea of writing fiction, she shut down the idea pretty quickly. “You just started in nonfiction. You need to focus on that.” Oh yeah. I forgot. I’m working toward something here.
She pulled me back where I need to be. But that doesn’t mean the idea would let me go. I kept sitting down to outline my next book and my fictitious characters kept pervading my every thought. What if the antagonist was abandoned as a child?! It made it nearly impossible to focus on the task at hand.
I knew I had to do something or else I’d never finish my assignment. So I blocked off 2 hours and outlined the whole novel. I started a new project in Scrivener and outlined every chapter. I have the full story arc ready to write. Now I just need to do it.
And it’s amazing, the project left my mind. I could focus on my nonfiction book once more. The Light Book will be waiting in my folders for me when I’m ready. Yes, I’m back up my computer every hour…so it will be waiting for me in six months, two years, whenever.
That’s the beauty of Moleskine notebooks, writing programs, Evernote… They let you dump your idea for a later time, so you can focus on what you need to focus on. And heck, set a reminded 2 months from now to pick it back up and dust it off. The timing might be right.