Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Why You Should Follow Through with Your Ideas

About 5 years ago, I came up with an idea for a book that I felt would be great to work on as soon as I finished the book I was writing at the time.

I wrote down my impressions/thoughts about the book, the character's names, how the story would progress. I also wrote about 10 pages of a scene just to get the ball rolling.

I then tucked the notebook away thinking that I would come back to it when I had the time.

It turns out I should have jumped on the idea a whole lot quicker than I thought as the book is now a best seller written by someone else. The funny thing is, my main character's name is exactly the same name as the main character in this author's book (and it's not a common name).

No, my work wasn't stolen. However, I do believe that we are all given creative ideas that we either choose to run with or leave languishing in a drawer somewhere.

I chose the latter.

The point is, I should have kept writing. I should have continued, no matter what. This is not to say my book would have become a best seller, but I do feel like I robbed myself of something really great.