I have a lot of ideas for stories, which I dutifully record in a file entitled, in a startling display of creativity, "Ideas 2008.doc". Maybe 10% of them actually make it to the page and maybe half of those make it to publication.
Why?
Because a lot of these ideas are bad. I don't hit a home run every time. I don't even bat .400. I do use too many sports metaphors in this paragraph.
Some highlights of my bad ideas include:
- The Star Wars tie in novel I wrote. When I was 13. Yeah.
- The epic dark fantasy about a WARLORD and a CHRISTIAN ALLEGORICAL SOCIETY that was THEMATIC and IMPORTANT. Also BORING.
- The urban fantasy about vaudaun starring a redneck white chick, her pickup truck and some dead chickens.
- The thriller about a psychic serial killer and a psychic FBI agent who had mind battles.
- The oh-God-what-IS-it about lycanthropy experiments during the Vietnam War, complete with de-aging and Government Conspiracies. I actually still sort of like this idea, but the execution sucked.
There it is, my shameful secret--and the shameful secret of most professional writers--we have a lot of batshit crazy ideas floating around. Then again, some successful concepts are pretty nuts too: Spider-Man, anyone? Great Expectations? I guess it just proves it comes down to the execution.
And that I should never, ever be allowed to write epic fantasy again.Labels: caitlin kittredge |
Hahaha, I love this. Yes I've had a few doozies. Some of which got written, some didn't.
1. a Lassie rip-off called The Green Hills of Ireland. Don't ask me, no clue.
2. A sequel to a story I wrote about a girl who becomes a white-tailed deer for a summer. Was going to have environmental overtones, since I was pissed off at hunters and urban sprawl at the time.
3. A mystery starring Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett version only, please) written from the point of view of his dog. Named Moriarty. Not kidding.
4. A blatant rip off of the Phantom of the Opera story.
5. Another sequel to a story about a grayhound. In Egypt. Looking back I realize that I watched The Ten Commandments one too many times.
Oh, crazy ideas are fun to remember.
lol ...like you said, 'execution' ;)
and yes, you CAN write another epic fantasy....
SPIDER-MAN meets GREAT EXPECTATIONS, maybe?
I think the redneck white chic urban fantasy would be hilarious!
The urban fantasy about vaudaun starring a redneck white chick, her pickup truck and some dead chickens.
*laughs* I don't know, I'd have read that one!
Katy
I think the redneck white chic urban fantasy would be hilarious! -- Princess Allie
Ditto like a Rushhead.
Especially since "urban fantasy" has been defined by Misty Lackey's Celtic Urban Faeries (TM) just as Tolkien defined high fantasy and Star Trek defined SF on TV -- archetypes that became The Only Way to Do Things.
Voudun, rednecks, and dead chickens are as far as you can get from Celtic Urban Faeries (TM) and still have "urban fantasy". Might be doable as country girl instead of city, parody, or just plain weirdness.