Have you ever had an idea you never made for one reason or another?

Scribbler

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The trick is to do the reverse. Don't try to make an epic reveal or something, but just sprinkle little clues here and there, then do the reveal however it takes to make it natural (not subdued, but just doesn't feel like it came out of nowhere). The point isn't to shock your reader, the point is to make them feel clever for figuring it out five chapters ago and looking forward to seeing how their guess turned out. This is something that a lot of film directors get wrong and get bashed on quite often (The latest two main Star Wars movies are a massive example of this, got GoT does some similar crap as well).

Fundamentally, I believe this is wrong. You don't get bored of something because you thought of something better, but because you didn't change the original thing into something good. This applies to everything, not just writing stories. If what you're doing isn't making you happy, finding something that does is often futile if you don't know what it is that'll make you happy. Instead, it's better to find a way to enjoy what you're currently doing.

I've heard of a story about an ordinary janitor who rated insanely high on a happiness index. When a bunch of scientists interviewed and examined him, they found out the secret was because he found his job fulfilling because he understood the impact he was having just by cleaning the place up. He found meaning where others couldn't or didn't try, and thus, he was happy.

Working towards a goal is much better than changing the goal constantly because you decide that you don't like it as much as a new goal you just came up with.

(Not, I'm not advocating to just get some random minimum wage job and tell you to be happy about it. Just that happiness can be found anywhere, just as you can make any story premise interesting if you put the effort into it)
I find it amazing, how you come to your conclusions.

The Last Jedi was bad because it tried too hard to subvert expectations and GoT was bad because the ending was rushed. Yes, that is how one should normally conduct a mystery.

What the hell is a happiness index? It sounds dreadfully controlled. Dedication is good. Perspective is important. I think, I think that's it.

I was simply trying to compliment you on your intent and pointing out how the other person should have stated why they were bored instead of simply saying that they were. It would have made it easier on you.
 

Ninetailed_Furball

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I find it amazing, how you come to your conclusions.

The Last Jedi was bad because it tried too hard to subvert expectations and GoT was bad because the ending was rushed. Yes, that is how one should normally conduct a mystery.

What the hell is a happiness index? It sounds dreadfully controlled. Dedication is good. Perspective is important. I think, I think that's it.

I was simply trying to compliment you on your intent and pointing out how the other person should have stated why they were bored instead of simply saying that they were. It would have made it easier on you.
Maybe I wasn't being clear enough. My Star Wars and GoT were examples of trying to subvert expectations going awry to be specific. It's fundamentally a type of surprise reveal, though they had bigger issues beyond that. I was trying to use less concise but mainstream examples rather than more obscure ones and not have my point come across at all.

The happiness index isn't really anything specific, but more of a series of theories and studies to go along with it. At least the one I was referring to. The one in the story was simply a survey to people in a wide variety of fields based on trying to determine overall job satisfaction, and using that as a basis for how happy they were. One piece of a larger whole, with the theory that you figure out all the little pieces, and you can make an accurate model for the bigger picture.

Also, I didn't mean for it to come out like I was attacking you, just trying to give some advice and expand on what I said earlier.
 

Chibi_Dino

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I have a few stories (serious novel types) that I started but ultimately converted into short stories because I felt I wasn't good enough to continue. Among them is a story about a real world being access through a VRMMO.
Same! I actually have a few series story ideas, but I'm not confident enough that I'll be able to successfully express how great it was like in my head.
。゚・ (>﹏<) ・゚。

As a result, I keep putting it off...
 

WeissBlatt

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I have several ideas, but right now I'm only actively working on two of them. I would like to write all those stories someday, but it's probable that as I improve my writing skills, some of them will turn into something completely different, while others will be forgotten.
 

MrDarkness1234

Dark Matter of All Evil
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yes ideas about just getting better at telling storys to a point where an express my story ideas in a manga format so that I can be happy to read them
 

HURGMCGURG

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I had an idea for a short story, in which a group of people would be summoned to a fantasy world to be heroes to defeat the demon king and save the world. They would ultimately fail to save the world, and it would be about different people in the world coming to terms with the fact they were all going to die, or trying to save the world still. I tried writing it a few times, but I just couldn't make a satisfying ending for it, and now it sits among other unfinished stories.
 

mrsimple

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There are stories I've written that have not been uploaded anywhere. I've done this because the reason for their existence was due to not being able to get them out of my head. I had to put them someplace, and I did, but I have not gone back to proofread or edit them because my initial intent had been satisfied.

As for ideas that have yet to be put down? I have them, and I started those, but many other folks told me to stop what I was doing and finish what I started before I touched the green. So, yeah, I got a lot on my plate, plenty in the oven, and an overstuffed fridge waiting for their turn before the expiration hits. We'll see what I can cook up.
 

Sahilk

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Well, So here's a story I had thought about.

It is a story about a mc who transmigrates into a novel. It seems like a cliche novel but the point is that the novel wasn't normal.

It was a novel about a dark main lead filled with despair and hardcore yandere girls.

MC transmigrates as a character who will get stabbed by a yandere girl.

How will he live now knowing that he was in a crazy novel filled with extreme crazy things.

Tell me how you liked this idea.
 

Sabruness

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I've had quite a few, maybe as many as 5 or 6 that i've just plain forgotten because i forgot to write them down. A few others i have ideas for but just havent either gotten round to them or havent developed enough to just start writing whatever comes to mind on the initial idea
 

Sabruness

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Well, So here's a story I had thought about.

It is a story about a mc who transmigrates into a novel. It seems like a cliche novel but the point is that the novel wasn't normal.

It was a novel about a dark main lead filled with despair and hardcore yandere girls.

MC transmigrates as a character who will get stabbed by a yandere girl.

How will he live now knowing that he was in a crazy novel filled with extreme crazy things.

Tell me how you liked this idea.
There's actually a translated novel like that.
 

Minasharpwrites

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I try to keep my ideas written somewhere. Sometimes they get used in surprising ways. They might not work for one story or even a certain genre but maybe somewhere else down the line.
 

Wretch

Undead men tell tales
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I... Have chronic disease. Its called Make Up a New Story Everyday, or MUNSE for short. I can't keep up with all of them so I discard at least two thirds and write summaries of the rest. My Google docs is full of these kind of summary compilations, and less than half end up as something I even think about writing.
 

AliceShiki

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I have a bunch of ideas I never put into paper tbh, like... At least 5 more or less fleshed out, and a dozen more of interesting concepts in the back of my head.

Maybe I'll put them all on paper one day, maybe they'll never see the light of day, but ideas I certainly don't lack~
 

BenJepheneT

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Let's just say I have so many ideas stuck in this bottomless pit I call my mind that you can stick your hand in and pull out a potential billion dollar franchise but if I were to list the ones I hold close to my heart:
  • A story set in a Cyberpunk universe where the protagonist, a vigilante, fights for the purpose of finding his own humanity so he could finally earn the love of his human wife WHO, (plot twist) isn't quite that human
  • An anthropomorphic cat in a Fantasy setting who follows a wanderer who wears a box on his head, slowly finding out his identity as he threads North in a quest to "slay a dragon"
  • An anthropomorphic wolf in a Beastars-like setting with humans and actual animals trying to rid of his past and his predetory identity
  • Infinite Stratos except the MC is smart, romantic and not horny. Oh, and the girls have CHARACTER. Yes, you heard it from me first. CHARACTER.
Yeah, just those. The first three I'm planning to write it here this coming December. The fourth one is eh, better stuck in the storage closet, haven't quite thought out the details for it yet.
 
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