I maintain a list
of my top 100
story premises.
How do I decide
if a new idea
should replace
one of the existing ideas
on the list?
I ask myself
a number
of questions.
– Is there a market
for it?
– Have I ever heard
readers (customers)
talking favorably about it?
– Is the market
one I want to serve?
– Is the idea similar
yet unique
to an existing
high selling book
(product)?
– Does the idea
excite me?
– Do I have the skills
or can I find the skills
to bring the idea
to realization?
– Do I have the resources
to make the idea
a reality?
– Will this idea
fit with the other projects
I am undertaking?
If the answers
to many of these questions
are ‘yes’,
the idea goes on my list.
If the answers
are mostly ‘no’,
I try to discard the idea.
If I can do that,
the idea NEVER
goes on my list.
If I can’t discard it,
I look at it again,
more closely.
Once you learn
how to spot ideas,
you’ll likely have too many
of them.
Learn how to evaluate them.
Send the ones
that aren’t great for you
back into the universe.
Work on the others.