Too Many Ideas meets Writer's Block?

Hey all,

I've come across a peculiar problem as of late. I'm somewhere between having too many game ideas in an almost ADD-type manner and a horrible case of writer's block... Maybe three or four times a day I'll have a concept for a world, or a protagonist, or a possible villain and begin typing out some Word doc about various ideas involving said idea. But, without fail, an hour passes and I'm at a loss. All ideas drained from my noggin and nowhere else to go. It's beginning to infuriate me. Just look at my Documents folder... 

I was wondering if any of you guys had similar problems and, if so, how you've been dealing with them. I'm pretty sure I'm driving my wife nuts with "So I had another idea today..." during pillow talk. Poor gal. I look forward to seeing some of you feedback, thanks for reading!
 

-Rello

Edit: As you can see, I reuse some stories' names quite a few times...

Edit: Oops, didn't see CP's steam chat pulled up. Sorry about that, dude. ._.;

You've just found the main reason why a lot of artists, writers and developers say "ideas are worthless, it's the implementation that counts".


We all have ideas by the dozens, the work is to turn an idea into something usable in a story or game. That takes hours and months of work, before any idea can be presented anywhere - and the good, professional people know that and develop the discipline to continue with their choosen idea beyond a few notes.


That is something you have to learn and train yourself, but most of the time it's not done by focusing on your last idea, but by revisiting some selected ideas again and again (with some time between visits) and thinking about how to continue and improve that idea, and then finally selecting some of those ideas and combining it to a game story to work on.

That is a very good point, friend. That might be the reason why I do visit old ideas from what began as reference and becomes a continuation. I think it may be partially due to that I'm not particularly limited to the genres and sub-genres of games that I enjoy. It may be that, I dunno, "openness"(?), that I have issues settling with one or two ideas. 

Edit: Some grammatical fixings. 

I know what you mean. I so know what you mean.

Ideas, (for me at least) come in certain 'varieties' that will help me initially slog through them. For example, some ideas sound better to me written down. As in a book or short story or something. Others sound better as game-plot mechanics, while some...just seem best as movies. @-@

When I come across a 'game mechanic idea', my next step is to begin jotting down ideas for it. (Like you.) This is the fastest way to start forming what you're thinking in front of you. However, I do tend to stick with this idea for at least a few days and horde more concepts for it. If I'm still interested, then I move onto the next factor. (and the biggest, if you ask me).

Resources. 

It's great if I want to make a pre-historic world crash into Candy Land and have the rainbow-colored protagonist ride a harpie-dog-pig-door around a world of nothing but jelly beans. But can I really scrounge up the graphics, faces, and music to bring such a haphazard idea to life in a way that's eloquent? Or even interesting?

On a normal note, even if I wanted to make a Western, resources for settings like that are also scarce. And of course, modern-futuristic tiles are only just now really making an impact on the collectibles out there.

So, I tend to bend my ideas toward what I see most often. What can be easily edited or mixed and matched to come as close to the vision as possible, while still offering diversity. One can do a lot with minimal tiles and graphics, as seen with all of the RTP made games around here, but having so little isn't always encouraging for a developer, so it's person to person at this point. (And don't be afraid to trim down the ideas so that you can make the most of limited tiles and such. A game can be short as well as fun!)

Basically, once I think I have the tiles and ideas together, I begin work on everything else. It's perfectly normal to have many blank projects that don't go much past a single boss fight. (If it even makes it there.) But I have found that sooner or later, one or two tend to stick out above the rest.

You'll begin to realize just what making a game means; and you'll be able to spot which ideas you can actually stand the test of time with, and which ones are just lead balloons.

This may not happen any time soon. But if you're persistent and dedicated, it's bound to happen eventually. And then, you'll have your wings to fly with~

It might help to combine some of those ideas into one game. At first glance it might seem they're all separate ideas scattered about in a vast empty space, but with a bit of planning and slight tweaking on some of the concepts, it's possible to make several ideas work together as one, and not only that, you'd often find that they fit together perfectly well like a jigsaw, complementing one another so well that it adds an extra dimension to the story or gameplay mechanics of the game.

Like Matseb suggested, try combining ideas into one. Usually when I have writer's block, I dig through old abandoned documents and see what I've already written down or thought of. I fish out some of the things I like and and flesh them out some in order to fit with the setting of whatever story I am working on at the moment.

You should purposely write something bad. Seriously. Sometimes ideas never materialize onto paper because of over thinking and wanting it to be perfect the first time out.

Or, throw caution to the wind and write a story based around an idea. Give generic names to the characters, give a basic plot.

The first story I ever wrote and finished was this, and after reading it over, I completely overhauled it into something much more different and enjoyable. If you have an awesome concept that you can easily remember, let it simmer on the back burner of your brain. Your subconscious will add onto it, leaving you with more to work with. (At least, that's how it works with me.

If your the kind of person who endlessly is writing ideas, which I am so I know what your feeling, then my biggest advice of all is you start writing. Your thinking "but I'm already writing, I write too many ideas all the time" but what I mean is writing the actual stories, the actual words you would imagine being in a finished book/story/chapter/whatever.

You can write ideas for ever but they will never raise your skill as a writer, they will never raise your confidence in your writing skills, and they will never move a plot foreword because they are only figments of your mind you're sketching down. Until you attempt to write finished words you can't truly form a concept. So even if you're just collecting a ton of loose writing instead of a ton of loose ideas, write the stories down instead. You'll find one that snags you and pulls you in by itself, or else they will all come together over time, it's a much faster way to work towards a project you enjoy.

Hope that made sense. xD

You should probably relax for a while. I think you are over doing things. Maybe go to a beach then before you know it, an idea comes to your head pretty quick. 

A lot of you guys are saying "just write something" and while I'm sure that'd be an easy fix, I just can't seem to do it? That's kind of my problem, you know? I'd love to just be able to knock out a story (even if it's awful) and re-look it. :\

Have you ever tried free writing? Basically you just write whatever crosses you're mind constantly for a predetermined amount of time without stopping. If you lose you're train of thought, then you just write the last word you wrote over and over until you think of something else. It's a great way to shut up your inner editor and just get your ideas out on paper.

Oh my. That's quite a lot of ideas! XD

I would personally suggest that you pick one idea that you're particularly fond of and begin fleshing it out...or if you can't decide on one, pick one at random...toss a few names into a hat and draw. In any case, just as many here have stated, committing to one idea is key. Ah, but you're saying you just can't seem to do that, hmm? Well, here's what I do when I decide I seriously want to TRY committing to a new story:

Generally, I think of one or two really exciting areas of the story I'd like to tackle...and begin writing them. Hey, no one said you had to write in order! But if you do this, you're setting yourself up with something to look forward to. Maybe the story before that big reveal or that villain's awesome monologue isn't the most exciting series of events in the world, but you now have a part of your story--a BIG part of your story--set in stone. This, in turn, makes writing up to that point quite exciting, as you are now writing the build-up to that tumultuous event, and in doing so, you will likely be simultaneously brainstorming new ideas and pieces of the puzzle that tie in to that event. This should keep you on track with the writing and maintenance of your goal to stay true to one idea.

Of course, I'm sure it doesn't work for everyone, and perhaps you've already tried this/are already doing this, but if not, it's certainly worth a try! =D

You can write, right now, and no matter what, words will come out and that's what matters. Your writing on this forum, right now, proving to me that beyond the shadow of a doubt, YOU CAN write a story, a novel, anything you want. Of course, this takes effort, writing things which you will think are pretty bad for a while, finding your style, and creating a whole bunch of material you'll never use while you learn.

I didn't say it would be easy, but what I said earlier is still the best course of action in my opinion ;)

Now this is just supposed to be motivating like 'yes, I can do it if I try!' don't take it as in 'Ah I must be useless because I can't seem to write at all' that's the opposite of how you should feel and having an opinion like that about yourself is the thing standing in the way of writing for a lot of people! I personally struggle to write because I don't like my style right now, and it's really tough. But remembering that I can write, and that every time I do I get better, is what keeps me from the infamous 'writers block'.

If you feel 'blocked' then you know, it's a part of your mind, a mental barrier your making for yourself. Only with mental strength can you overcome that!