Friday, April 25, 2014

Friday Fricassee

It's so cliché to exclaim about how quickly time passes, right?  But I can't help myself.  It's hard to believe that this is the last Friday of April.

So yesterday was my birthday, and I had an absolutely lovely day, which included the following:
  • Gorgeous weather.  All day.
  • A shopping trip to my favorite boutique, gift certificate in hand (from Christmas, because SPRING CLOTHES)
  • A woman sitting outside the pub shouting, "THAT DRESS IS BEAUTIFUL!" to me as I walk by.  Twice.  (Seriously?  I've never had a compliment shouted at me by a complete stranger before.)
  • A lovely lunch date with a fellow writer/dancer (she's more dancer than writer, so we were a good balance).
  • Sending my latest finished project to Josh.  (Yes, I did this on my birthday. Because SENDING FINISHED PROJECTS MAKES ME HAPPY.)
  • Dinner out with Mr. A.  (Except, I was still full from lunch.  So I had an Angry Orchard and watched him eat pizza.)
  • CAKE  (This one doesn't need further explanation.)

So I'm feeling rather pampered and content this morning.  I don't even have to mention the GIFTS OF CHOCOLATE that came my way.  (Am I that transparent? :P)  I now have a stash in my upstairs drawer that's bound to last me at least, oh, 3 days.

You know words make me as happy as chocolate does (it's true), so today I'd like to hear from you!  Here's the question:  Do you have that one fabulous, elusive, I'm-almost-afraid-to-think-about-this story idea in your head/notebook/file folder?  You know what I mean.  It's such a cool concept, and you see huge potential, but you just haven't started it yet for whatever reason.  Or maybe you have started it, but it's more like piddling and prodding than actual writing, because this thing feels a bit bigger than you.

I've got one of those.  Actually, I'm certain it's supposed to be my next "new project" (I'm currently working on rewrites of other things).  And my stomach sort of drops whenever I think about this new thing.

I say "thing" because it's not even a story idea yet.  It's a world and it's a premise, and I love it (and hate it a little).  I can't even decide whether to make it MG or YA.  But dang, I've got a playlist, so that's something.

It actually exhausts me to think about writing it.  Which is probably a clear indication that I ABSOLUTELY NEED TO WRITE IT.


So tell me I'm not alone.  (I already know I'm not, but I LOVE to hear your stories!)

And happy weekend!


  1. Yes! I have one of these! It was a one sentence idea I woke up thinking one morning - at least a year ago. But I was finishing one project, had another to edit, and one I was querying. Then the query project was picked up by a small publisher - awesome,yes! - but this idea keeps knocking on my brain and I can't wait for the day I can explore it.

  2. Oh absolutely - in fact more than one but there is always that one"special project" that you can see from beginning to end and everything in between ---buut you just don't sit down and start writing! (probably for fear that when you do, it just won't look the same on the page as it does in your head. So yes, you are definitely not alone :)

  3. Agreed:) Here's a weird one, I just dreamt I had lunch with my main character and she offered me a new idea. It's really good too, so now I wonder if she's a better story teller than me?? Maybe she'll give a hint tonight. Happy BD!!

  4. I have a couple, but one of them is the first novel-length story I ever started working on. I think I was 12. And I've poked and dabbled and fussed with it on and off ever since. One day it will finally reveal itself and I will be very happy.

  5. A very happy, pen-dipping, key-clicking, writerly birthday to you. Celebrate all month long! That's what we do around here. But you're going to need more chocolate.

    Yes, I have a few moments from my life that seem too beyond this reality to just sit there in my memory. They seem to need a place in a larger story, which wouldn't be from life, so we're not talking memoir here. Does that count?

  6. Happy birthday! I have so many titles and first lines that I love--with no story depth--that I'm keeping a file which I will one day put in order, at which time the collection will magically become the best story ever. It's called, "Index of First Lines and Common Titles." Does that sound familiar?

  7. Happy Birthday!

    I'm also a Taurus (22nd).

    How exciting that you have such a goose-bumpy feeling about a soon-to-be WIP. You know you have something when the play-list starts coming before you're even ready for it.

    Best wishes for a happy year.

  8. Sounds like a wonderful birthday!
    Yes, I have a couple ideas just waiting for a big chunk of time devoted to nothing else. I've been holding off on the 'launch' because I need to finish a review/revision first. New projects tend to be all-consuming....

  9. I totally had one of those, about 5 years ago. It was the biggest thing I'd ever tried to write, with the most intricate plot. It started as a short story that was slowly edited into a novelette, and when a pro author was kind enough to read it, he told me he thought my gut was right, that it needed to be a novel. But I left it a couple years, because the idea was so big, I wasn't ready for it. I sharpened my tools on another project, and eventually, when I decided I needed to set that one aside and work on something new, looked again at this big idea and decided I was ready.

    I wrote it, I've revised it, and now I'm querying it, and got a revision request from a major league agent, so I know it was the right decision. Go for it, be ambitious and challenge yourself!

  10. Happy birthday, Authoress. Re the impulse, I know what you mean. I'm sitting on a story that came out of nowhere - no, that's a lie, it came out of a flash fiction I wrote for adults, but this new story is for mid-grade.

    I'm so excited about its possibilities, I can't stop thinking about it. Have written two chapters and a rough outline while my work-in-progress shouts for attention, not to mention the other 3 rewrites in progress. (Shade of you, by the sound of it).

    It's the most marvellous feeling, isn't it?

  11. Happy Birthday!

    I went out on sub on my birthday, so I know the feeling of having a fun writing achievement AND a birthday (AND cake!). :)

  12. Glad you had a fantastic bday! Getting to go places I love always makes a special day even xtra special.

  13. Happy Birthday! Here's wishing you much awesomeness in the year ahead! : )

  14. Happy Birthday, Authoress!

    I have an intriguiging idea for an MG story. I was sitting in the car waiting for the light to turn green, watching a hawk doing lazy circles in the sky, when the idea popped into my head. Fortunately, I was a passenger so I wrote it down immediately. I'm constatnly thinking about the characters and plot points. I've got a short list of plot points and several pages in my computer. The entire plot hasn't come together yet, but it will. Ideas are everywhere. This is the part of story telling I dearly love. The, what if, part. It's a time when anything, anything, can happen.

  15. A very happy birthday to you!

    I've got this one project I've tried to write three times, but can't. I've figured out some of the reasons it's difficult, too. It's an awesome concept, but it essentially requires characters older than what I'm used to (NA instead of YA), and in a realistic fiction story instead of fantasy. Second, every time I've tried to write it, the characters have all been dull, boring, and uninteresting... despite all of my efforts otherwise.

    But if I keep trying at it once a year or so, it's bound to come out right eventually.

  16. Happy Birthday Ms. Authoress!