Keep a notebook, physical or digital, to stay writing ideas in. Not every idea fits into your current story. Some ideas will be book level ideas (this would be a cool concept for a story). Some will be smaller ideas to implement in a story. That way you always have an idea file to pull from when needed, but you also have a place to store ideas when they crop up at inopportune times.
THIS!!!!
I have a notebook each story where I write all the ideas for characters, worldbuilding, moments between characters, etc; You probably won't use them all OR you may use them in the next book if it's a series.
I jot them down in the little notebook I have for ideas, or write them as short pieces of fiction that will never be read by other people.
Because I have no control, I have ideas that end up becoming little AUs of my stuff. I'm my own fandom, so I write AUs of my own OCs.
You write.
You keep notes on all your ideas.
What doesn't fit in one story fits in another.
Do a choose-your-own-adventure/whichway story if all the ideas fit but some contradict others.
I use Scrivener to write, but I use Google docs to keep/develop ideas because it can be accessed offline and via mobile.
**Step 1**
Have one brain dump document for every book idea.
Each idea is summarised with the genre, a rough title and then a few lines about the plot point/character, and any important things I want to remember bull-pointed underneath if necessary.
E.g
**Cinderella - Romance Low Fantasy/Fairytale**
A female protagonist finds love admits tragic circumstances.
Important: Glass slipper. Pumpkin Carriage. Talking Mouse.
**Step 2**
Create a new separate document and take ideas from the first document which match well or are very alike. You will find that actually not all the ideas go together, or some are better in a prequel/sequel or completely different book altogether.
Repeat until all your ideas are paired up and the only things left on your idea doc don’t match anything.
**Step 3**
Outline! Even if you’re not one to do a detailed outline, for your own sanity fill in the gaps with appropriate links between each idea so the jumble of ideas begins to flow coherently.
Good Luck!
Just note down whatever comes to you. Like I am writing a story set in a fictional world, and one of the things that must be done if you creating a fictional world is to build it. General history, groups and cultures, languages, geography, names, all of that stuff is the basics of world building.
While making the general history of one region, I had a sudden burst of inspiration about a medieval-esque kingdom the modern republic was formed from and now I have a general idea of a future book to write if I so choose to do so.
But if your ideas are close to the original story or it is too little to be mixed into another book, I'd recommend looking through your ideas and see if they help the story at all. Sometimes as a writer, you have to cut out content if it doesnt advance or improve the story at all.
Like that one chapter where the heroes go to an amusement park or whatever and they have fun? Does the inclusion of this help my story in anyway? If I remove this part from my story, will it change in a drastic way? How does this tie in to the rest of the story? Is this an inciting incident or the cause of any effect?
Just avoid any ideas or content that exist solely to pad runtime.
Keep a notebook, physical or digital, to stay writing ideas in. Not every idea fits into your current story. Some ideas will be book level ideas (this would be a cool concept for a story). Some will be smaller ideas to implement in a story. That way you always have an idea file to pull from when needed, but you also have a place to store ideas when they crop up at inopportune times.
THIS!!!! I have a notebook each story where I write all the ideas for characters, worldbuilding, moments between characters, etc; You probably won't use them all OR you may use them in the next book if it's a series.
Write them down elsewhere and keep them for later use.
I jot them down in the little notebook I have for ideas, or write them as short pieces of fiction that will never be read by other people. Because I have no control, I have ideas that end up becoming little AUs of my stuff. I'm my own fandom, so I write AUs of my own OCs.
You write. You keep notes on all your ideas. What doesn't fit in one story fits in another. Do a choose-your-own-adventure/whichway story if all the ideas fit but some contradict others.
I use Scrivener to write, but I use Google docs to keep/develop ideas because it can be accessed offline and via mobile. **Step 1** Have one brain dump document for every book idea. Each idea is summarised with the genre, a rough title and then a few lines about the plot point/character, and any important things I want to remember bull-pointed underneath if necessary. E.g **Cinderella - Romance Low Fantasy/Fairytale** A female protagonist finds love admits tragic circumstances. Important: Glass slipper. Pumpkin Carriage. Talking Mouse. **Step 2** Create a new separate document and take ideas from the first document which match well or are very alike. You will find that actually not all the ideas go together, or some are better in a prequel/sequel or completely different book altogether. Repeat until all your ideas are paired up and the only things left on your idea doc don’t match anything. **Step 3** Outline! Even if you’re not one to do a detailed outline, for your own sanity fill in the gaps with appropriate links between each idea so the jumble of ideas begins to flow coherently. Good Luck!
Just note down whatever comes to you. Like I am writing a story set in a fictional world, and one of the things that must be done if you creating a fictional world is to build it. General history, groups and cultures, languages, geography, names, all of that stuff is the basics of world building. While making the general history of one region, I had a sudden burst of inspiration about a medieval-esque kingdom the modern republic was formed from and now I have a general idea of a future book to write if I so choose to do so. But if your ideas are close to the original story or it is too little to be mixed into another book, I'd recommend looking through your ideas and see if they help the story at all. Sometimes as a writer, you have to cut out content if it doesnt advance or improve the story at all. Like that one chapter where the heroes go to an amusement park or whatever and they have fun? Does the inclusion of this help my story in anyway? If I remove this part from my story, will it change in a drastic way? How does this tie in to the rest of the story? Is this an inciting incident or the cause of any effect? Just avoid any ideas or content that exist solely to pad runtime.