How to Choose the Right Story Idea to Write

An active imagination can produce numerous killer novel or short story ideas, but how do we choose a story idea to start writing? How do we know which is the RIGHT story to write now? 

A tricky decision, indeed. 

It’s a safe guess that every single story you posses is special to you, thus making the decision-making even more difficult.

We don’t want to choose the wrong story idea and find ourselves in another five year rut with no new words added to our manuscripts. 

We want to have fun writing, for the words to flow, and to be taken on an exciting adventure by our imaginations. 

So does this mean we have to write our stories in the order they came to our minds, or does it even matter which story we write first? Can we work on more than one at once? 

These are the problems I hope to help you solve today—at least point you in a better direction—as I know the heartache of making this decision, and have struggled with it on a few occasions. 

Let’s choose your story idea! 

Choose one story, or pick two (or more) ideas? 

Should I work on more than one story at a time? 

If you asked Pinterest or Google this question, you would likely come back with a slew of various opinions on the subject. Therefore, I thought I could save you some time and list a few of the common mindsets and strategies I’ve encountered below. 

1. Writing Cycles

Using writing cycles is an intriguing strategy I learned about years ago, and one which many great writers employ. 

How it works is you start with Project A, and perhaps write the first draft. Once Project A: Draft 1 is completed you could put it aside for a few months and begin planning or drafting Project B.

After this stage of Project B is finished, you could go back to edit Project A OR start on Project C . 

Example: Project A: Draft < Project B: Draft > Project A: Edit < Project B: Edit

Example: Project A: Novel Edit > Project B: Draft (a novella) > Project C: Draft + Edit (a short story) < Project A: Polish Novel Draft

There is no one way to do a writing cycle. You could alternate between novels and short stories, or throw in a novella. It’s up to your judgement of what you can handle, and your creativity. 

There are a few things to be wary of during a cycle, though:

• Don’t take too long between cycles. While giving our brains a break between novel drafts is recommended to facilitate objective editing, too much time away from a project will make re-engaging with your story difficult.
  •  I would be careful not to go more than 6-9 months on one project before returning to the previous one. Pro Tip: Alternate between longer (novel) and shorter works (novella and short story) to keep acquainted with each story.

• Don’t plan more than three projects in a cycle. I’ve never tried more than two stories in a cycle, and would imagine four projects on the burner at once could get overwhelming. 

2. Weekend Projects 

While attending an indie book festival, I heard fantasy author Angela J. Ford speak about how she has used the weekends to write a project different than the story she writes on weekdays. 

I had not thought of this technique before, and find it fascinating—something I may try in the future. 

This may be a great system to use if your weekday novel project is hard or dark, and a lighter project to work on the weekends could be a fun, rejuvenating break. 

3. Staying the Course

And finally, the classic One Project At A Time Strategy. This keeps you immersed in your work-in-progress’s story, which is helpful when avoiding disconnect with your characters and plot.

However, this does leave a time gap to fill when you set your manuscript aside for a rest before editing (which you should do). 

4. My current process…

Right now I am both in the editing stages of my first novel, and the planning stages of my next novel series. Once I get through a draft of my first novel and it’s time to give it a break, I’ll fill up the time by working on my novel series for a month or so. 

This way I am always working a creative project. 

It is sort of like a writing cycle, but not as official. If I was doing a writing cycle I would keep on with the my series for a longer period of time than a month so I could finish the planning stage. Instead, I’ve been cycling through the planning stage a few times now and am still not done. 

I’m not saying my current process is the way to go, just my way of combining advice I’ve received and what feels organic to me at this time. 

I’m sure there are plenty more systems out there to employ, but these are the most common I’ve come across (and remember ?). 

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How to Choose the RIGHT Story Idea

You’ve got a system in place which dictates how many story ideas you can work on at once, so now it’s time to choose which idea to start. 

Follow this procedure: 

1. Make a list of all your story ideas. 

2. Number the list by which story idea you feel most excited to write about in this moment, and believe will still be excited to write three to six months from now. 

Excited about them all? To narrow down the top runners, ask yourself: 

• Is there a story idea most suited to your current storytelling skills? (Let’s face it, we are not masters of the craft yet—even the masters still call themselves students—so which idea would be great for a debut novel?) 
• Is there one story more developed in your mind than the rest? I’m actually grateful for how long I’ve let my next novel series percolate in the brainstorming phase, because I think it needed the time for my subconscious to work on it. Which stories do you feel still need further development before you dive in? (Careful: Make this decision objectively, not from a place of fear to work on a specific project.) 
• Which story idea will your writing call not let you forget? YASS. This is one of the main reasons I am working on my current work-in-progress—the novel wouldn’t let me leave. 

CASE STUDY: 

A few years back I had a choice between my stand-alone thriller novel I’d been working on for a couple years and a three (or more) part fantasy series I had JUST imagined. 

The fantasy series was new and exciting, and the stand alone novel was a half-written mess. So I jumped into the fantasy series and began brainstorming. 

Two weeks later my conscience spoke up, calling me back to the thriller story idea. My burning passion for the fantasy series didn’t numb the fact I needed to write this thriller novel first. 

Also, I knew I wanted this fantasy series to be seamless and written with vivid description, a writing skill I had yet to perfect. The thriller novel would take skill, but skill I felt I could tackle quicker than an epic book series. 

I am incredibly grateful I made that choice, and while I had to reignite my love for the thriller novel, I have never regretted the choice. 

Listen to Your Storytelling Instinct 

I believe writers—or people who are meant to be writers—have an instinct for stories inside. 

We’ve consumed many of them, and have developed a critic inside of us telling what’s a good story and what isn’t. 

By recognizing and honing this instinct through knowledge and practice, we nurture a voice inside which guides us in setting our stories in ink. 

It was this instinct which led me to commit to my thriller as my first novel to finish. No one could have told me keeping with this story idea was the right call. 

In fact, if anyone had read that first draft they might have recommended I scrap it and go with the new idea. 

Our storytelling instinct holds wisdom we should take into account in our decision making. This instinct may even defy logic, and when that happens we definitely need to listen and evaluate our decision carefully. 

This doesn’t mean you should keep with your first novel idea, like I did. Your ideas, experiences, and callings are different than mine. 

When all is said and done, trust what you’re instinct tells you to write. Do not choose a story idea because it is what you or someone else thinks you should write—logic does not always produce the right decision. 

If you don’t choose the right story idea—one you are excited and prepared to write—then your story won’t develop as smoothly or instinctually, because you will be catching up on skills, feigning passion, or wishing you had chosen another story. 

I’ve Chosen the Wrong Story to Write—What do I do?

If you’re reading this and feel the story you’re writing now is not the right one, don’t worry. It’s hard for me to give you exact advice on what to to, because I don’t know where in the novel writing process you are, but I will try my best. 

Would switching story ideas now stress you out? If yes, then you don’t need to switch.

Perhaps now is the time to start a writing cycle, so once you get to a good pausing spot you can switch to the project you feel more called to write in this moment. 

If you just can’t keep writing your current project and need to switch, go for it. I won’t tell ?. 

The only human who knows which story your instinct is guiding you to write is yourself. Don’t let any other person’s judgments keep you from writing the story you are truly thrilled about writing. 

This is your imagined story—tell it when and how you feel is best. 

(If you are a fan of journaling, this is a topic you can hash out in your notebook and discover your true feelings in regard to the story idea. Write it all out.) 

Decision Time: Choose Your Story Idea

 You have your list, your story instinct is tuned, and you’re ready to listen. 

What’s your choice gonna be? 

Take a few days if you need to choose your story idea, but after that it’s time to go all in and commit to your story until is is finished. (At least until the first stage is completed.) 

Do writing cycles sound like the way to go for you? Repeat the process above and pick your second place story from your new list to work on. 

In the future when you are ready to start a new project, make up a new list and number them again. There is no shame in not writing the story you had expected to write next when you had made your previous list. 

Now that you’ve got your story idea decided and revved to go, check out these articles for some next steps: 

• How to Create a Fiction Writing Schedule
• How to Write a Book: 10 Steps to Write Your First Novel Rough Draft

Tell your story, 

Sarah