A Marathon of Ideas
Writing advice often uses the marathon/sprint analogy, as in it takes a lot of time, practice, patience and endurance to complete a novel. I’m absolutely on board with that! But there’s another element of the analogy that I think is misleading: the “just-do-it” mentality. This is the concept that, once you have an idea, you simply write and write and write until it’s done.
Only, creativity doesn’t work like that. The idea isn’t the first part of the writing process, it’s the all-of-it part. In fact, the first idea you get is often the lowest-hanging fruit. It’s the first thing that comes to mind because it’s likely the most common. You just read a romance between two high school teachers? You’ll write a romance about two elementary school teachers! That’s not to say there isn’t value in that, but it’s predicated on what’s already out there. Good writing comes from idea evolution. Start with your two elementary school teachers; then expand, morph, change, grow that idea at each stage. In the marathon equivalent, that would be like starting over every few miles or changing routes—it seems counterproductive to just running a marathon. But it’s necessary for creativity to flourish.
Which means it’s okay if you don’t feel you’re always moving forward. It’s okay if you stop and evaluate. It’s okay if you start over! Ideas don’t come fully formed, so don’t be afraid to let them grow.