People who know me and are familiar with my work understand that I suffer from literary OCD and ADD. This is to say, when I get an idea, I become obsessive about developing it and usually spend days writing out a framework, chapter summaries, character profiles, or random stuff related to it. On the other hand, I will immediately lose focus the moment another idea comes to me or an old one recaptures my attention. You might say that ideas are like shiny objects to me, always capturing my attention and distracting me.

The following are ideas that have come to me over the years but which I have had no luck developing so far. In some cases, it was a time thing. In others, it’s a matter of inspiration being a fickle SOB. Oh, the tyranny of the Idea Folder and all the undeveloped ideas it contains! I’m sure everyone whose ever put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) knows what this is like. But at the same time, it’s good to know there’s a stack of ideas somewhere that you can pick up and dust off occasionally.

Continue reading “A Visit to the Ideas Folder” →