How Do You Solve a Problem Like “Too Many Ideas”?
Posted by filmmaker Raffi Asdourian on Twitter (3/3/10): “I have so many movies inside of me bursting to get out…it’s not even funny!”
Too many ideas. This is what writers (and artists, in general) talk about all the time, right? “I have so many ideas, but I can’t get them down on paper.” “I had the best idea at the gym last night, but I forgot it before I got home.” “I got the best idea for my screenplay in a dream last night, but it was gone before I woke up.”
How do you solve this? I don’t know that you can. But it’s actually a good problem to have, don’t you think? A little torturous, perhaps. But the opposite of “too many ideas” = “writer’s block,” and NO ONE wants that.
So what can you do to cope?
- Some people, like Phil Holbrook, conquer Idea Overload by keeping notebooks handy.
![[greenpen.JPG]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JQct6LzkuzM/S31q_2DXV6I/AAAAAAAAABg/g8WqocMYcEA/s1600/greenpen.JPG)
- Others, like Jessica, just remember everything. (Yes – she’s truly outrageous…even more than Jem.)
"No Notes" Jessica
- Me (Julie), I need to write everything down. As a result (and much to Jessica’s chagrin), our apartment is covered with little notes: post-its, tiny notebooks, scraps of paper, random midnight jottings…they’re all there.
Julie's Notes
The big question is: when YOU’RE struck with inspiration (the best idea ever for a screenplay, the best name for a villain, or the million dollar idea that’s going to get you the big deal that’s just out of your reach), what do YOU do?
Indeed. Too many cooks can spoil the soup… too many ideas can cloud our creative judgment. Well, that’s how I feel anyway. I’m pretty scatterbrained and all over the place with concepts, story ideas and such. What works for one person, won’t work for all. I do write things down just in case it’s “The One”, but I’ve found that the best ideas will return, resurface and keep needling at my brain.
Some are keepers, most aren’t… but it’s nice there IS a wellspring of concepts bubbling that we may pick and choose from when need be!
Cheers,
Jeff
This was one of my biggest problems for years, until I came to a brick wall one day. I had more ideas for more, than I had years left to live! haha
Anyway, got all my main probject ideas for a few years, but I still get masses of ideas for scenes, story, characters for each project. I simply carry my flip camcorder EVERYWHERE with me, and use the audio for notes.
Writtem notes on the move slow me down to much, the flip is the best for me. I also used giant note pads, pin pages to a board, and at the end of each week, I spend an hour going through them all, and typing into appropriate folders.
But my best ideas come when I am on the move, so the flip works for me best. Gotta go, got an idea!
DAvid
Jeff – You’re totally right. The ideas that are the keepers will return, resurface, and keep needling our brains. I like that!
David – Great idea for using the Flip. Jessica actually just got a small voice recorder, but she’s still working on a) remembering to carry it around and b) remembering to use it. This will improve with time. “Note to self…”
Thanks to BOTH of you for the comments! Make this whole blog-thingy much richer. Cheers!
Hah. I’m like Jessica, I’ve a pretty good memory.
If you’re not a moleskin or steno pad keeper like Phil, or if you’re not the iPhone kinda person like John is (the notepad feature in his iPhone is populated with a bunch of random ideas), just carry a pen with you at all times. When that brilliant idea comes to you, write it on the back of your hand, if it’s too long, create some type of a password hint that’ll remind you of that idea and help jog your memory.
#1 – I’m jealous of your excellent memory.
#2 – The back of my hand is often covered with random letters that are supposed to jog my memory later on, usually related to things I’m supposed to pick up at the grocery store. I also resort to repeating things like the kid in that old Sesame Street cartoon: “A loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stuck of butter.”
Twitter: tylerweaver
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When I was running the non-profit and running my own film thing I forced myself into semi-adopting the David Allen (not the super cool interview guy with a kick ass accent) “Getting Things Done.” I set up “inboxes” throughout the house, and keep small notepads around all the time. Whenever I’m near a box, I throw the note in there. Eventually, I’ll collect them and put them in a file (I’m a nutjob when it comes to filing systems). I take a page from journalists and keep a files called “Possies,” (love the name) where I throw loose ideas that don’t fit into anything.
I also use Evernote for taking notes on a computer (since my own handwriting is getting worse and worse), and a combo of Scrivener and Dropbox for my writing (blogs, scripts, A/V corporate stuff). Keeps things synced nicely.
Sorry for lengthy pontifications – I get all verbose when it comes to organizing. It’s saved my sanity more than once.
Great post!
I am lucky to have a good team around me. Whenever any one of us has an idea we usually pass it around the crew. The ones that are lame get made fun of. The ones that are good are easy to spot because we are still talking about them a week later. If I was a solo unit, I would be making a bunch of whack shit. This is a somewhat exhausting process, but it definitely gets the job done for us.
Okay, so maybe I’m a bit anal. I write them down and then create a project list for each. Then I tackle one at time until they’re all done and the idea has come to fruition in a tangible form.
Twitter: Philontilt
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“The ones that are lame get made fun of.” – Cassidy, do we hang out with the same people or what? That’s awesome!
PS- that couch Jess is sitting on looks ultra comfytable!
I started using Evernote for both business and personal projects this year. It’s pretty fierce. It allows you to load anything — web clips, text, pictures into your free account. You can input either by directly into the application or by email, text message, Twitter, and is available for Windows or Mac and as apps on most smart phones and they have a app the loads in any mobile browser. The iPhone app also allows you to record voice messages and sync them up with the app as well. When the application is running, you can just pull up do a quick key stroke to open a new note or copy whatever you’re reading into a new note, and there’s Firefox add-ons that make it easier than that.
I initially was interested in it as something that thing is that I have access to one big notebook wherever I am, but it’s also helpful if you’re just in one location most of the time. Once your notes are in the application, you can organize your notes into notebooks or put tags on them. (If you use the iPhone app, it will even tag automatically where you were when you entered the note.)
I’ve even gotten into the habit of saving comments or posts I make on other sites to my Evernote account, since a lot of my “writing” or ideas gets “lost” to the ether and since then have taken those ideas and fleshed them into something fuller ideas — either for myself, my journal, or in my work. (Expect to see this comment as a blog post coming soon.) It also allows me to copy/paste chats and forward emails into Evernote so if unrelated discussions turn to ideas meetings (which happens a LOT in Google chats with Andy or Allen – bam, it’s filed away.)
And even if you feel like this would eventually get overwhelming, the most awesome feature that I’m finding more helpful now that I’ve been using it for six months is its search feature. Their algorithms will even work for pictures you take, so if I take a picture of a whiteboard or a business card or a poster, it will attempt to pull up the text within the picture.
Not to promise the moon and the stars with just one free application, but I was able to write 1/2 of a short story I was working on just by combining the ideas that I had collected while “on the go” — granted a lot of the story was set in a bar, so it may speak more to where I was in October and November 2009 than increased productivity due to Evernote.
In this short amount of time, Evernote has pretty much become my second brain, leaving my first free to do more interesting work and be more creative.
No, I do not work for the company.
I spent so much time on my Evernote diatribe (multi-tasking during a boring ass conference call and having 8 tabs open anyway) that I totally missed posting it before Tyler suggested it.
Marinell – It’s an especially good napping couch.
Maria – You’re not anal; you’re successful.
Cassidy – It’s definitely good to have a team around you who will unequivocally reject the duds. I like working with Julie for the same reason: we can monitor each other’s crap, and we don’t have to be nice about it.
Mike and Tyler: I’m thinking that this Evernote business is going to help bring me one step closer to creating my second, CYLON self.
Mike – I actually have the Evernote application and never use it. Didn’t realize it was so versatile. Now I’ll have to give it a second look.
And Julie, about become a CYLON – Frack that!
Julie to Marinell: That couch is only good for napping on if you’re Jessica-sized.
Julie to Maria: I think anal is something that unorganized people call organized (and often successful) people. So…
Julie to Cassidy & Phil: I bet tossing ideas into the FriendTank is similar to what they do over at SNL. I’ve always thought it would be a cool and terrifying place to work. Float your ideas out there, the bad ones sink, the good ones swim. Works for them…
Julie to Everyone: Please meet Mike McNamara. He’s @McMikeNamara on Twitter. He’s also one of our oldest friends and someone we trust with our scripts (and our lives). Mike, meet everyone else.
I’ve got a little black book…well it’s actually grey. It’s a tiny notebook that I can carry in my pocket for quick thoughts.
Then when I have time, I’ll transfer the ideas into a WORD doc. If it get past the WORD doc stage then there’s at least a Scrivener file if not a Final Draft file runnnig amok in my hard drive.
I’ve got a separate files for each film idea — and even one doc just listing a bunch of titles I’d like to use someday. I already came up with the title for Part Two of the Loneliness Trilogy which I hope to shoot at the end of the year if it’s possible.
My god I need help.
I so terribly have this problem. Writing things down is good–notebooks, legal pads, post-its, white board, backs of receipts, trash on car floor…
Word docs, emails to self, tweets, blogs, paper files, computer files…
I also am getting more into the just let it go and if it comes back to you, it’s important…thing.
I also sometimes just get really frustrated and depressed about it. Which I guess is not really coping. But it is part of what happens with the lots of ideas problem, really the not-enough-time slash money problem, right?
oh, and drawrings.
Gary — Now we know the secrets of your success. We’re going out to buy grey notebooks asap. By the way, Jessica keeps a similar running title document. I guess it’s a KING thing.
Lee — You and I have a lot in common… okay, maybe it’s just the writing on trash in the car thing. We should start scrapbooking our brilliant trash, and then some French person will make a movie about it. (Hello, France!)
lol, love it.
I have extremely good memory… well, until the kids came along. After three kids (no “I” didn’t actually give birth to them) it’s not as good, but I still remember the film ideas, script ideas. I see my scenes as actually visual images in my head like my brain is a DVD player itself. Might be weird for some. But my brain beind so visual means I remember script stuff well. Other things not as well.
What I do, is if a new movie idea comes to my mind I little it linger for a week or a month. I debate whether it’s even worth writing as a script. Then if it doesn’t pass my test, I tried to forget it and move on with life. During post-production of AMENSIA (18 months) I tried to think of nothing but that film. Not easy. But I didn’t write anything unless a program issue in post.
What we have to be careful is too many new ideas not related to the project at hand can become a distraction that renders us useless to what we’re doing now. Having our heads too much in the clouds of thinking can be detrimental to the real world project you’re working on right now.
The first commenter, Jeff, and I spoke at the Secret Society of Jeffs meeting last night and let me say we’re all impressed with his comment! I’m compelled to add my .0196USD/.02CDN.
When you verbally tell someone a story, do you tell them the boring parts? Hopefully not. Hopefully you cut to the chase. After some practice, your brain just automatically does it for you. It drops the filler and remembers the killer.
You sit in a coffee shop for three hours and then someone busts in a robs the place at gunpoint. When you tell the story, you don’t really get into the details of what you did for three hours. Do you? Hopefully your mind won’t even let you. It gets to the point.
If an idea is good, it will be persistent. That’s my view and I believe a consensus of Jeffs was reached last night. You may assume all Jeffs are in agreement on this. (It’s a 50+1 society)
My notebook is for calculating, not as much for remembering. I figure stuff out in it.
Jeff
Who said ideas are like buses? Sometimes they’re more like express trains. But one thing’s for sure, I share the problems of managing the creative process too.
I guess, for me, personally, it’s down to using as much synced technology as possible. I don’t like notebooks any more; and have become obsessive about transcribing text into digital format ASAP. That way, I can cut and paste, re-arrange and expand/contract/add to whenever necessary.
I’m also obsessed with syncing everything online to portable formats so it’s all in one place. Oh yes, and backing up, in an obsessively, obsessed way.
Hadn’t realised just how pedantic I am until I started writing this. Maybe I’ll sync this comment. It could come in handy one day!
Fab post. Great to see so many people up for a discussion. Best wishes. Luke
Keep all your ideas, but only listen to the ones that resonate–they’re likely to resonate with others as well. Purging the rubbish helps you to focus on the meaty ideas. Also, don’t forget to realize your ideas. Art isn’t in the calculating–it’s in the finishing.