Dating! First Drafts! Magic!

First drafts suck, and I’ll tell you why. Because I am roughly five thousand words into mine and most of it is: 

1.       Stuff that needs to be cut

2.      Dialogue by characters that are getting unceremoniously cut

3.       Laughable 

So by the time I am through editing it I will probably be down to maybe two thousand words I can actually potentially use. 

The key, I think, is to stay positive. And to remind myself that telling stories is FUN, and I like doing this, and also that I really like these characters and do not want the story to die a painful death. 

Also to tell myself not to run away from it because I need to learn commitment, dang it. 

My problem lies in this: I have a lot of ideas. Most authors will tell you that ideas are cheap and easy to come by. You will probably come by a hundred ideas in a day. The trick is finding the one that sticks. 

It’s like dating. Most people don’t have a problem finding people that will date them. There are some very desperate people out there! Many of them stalkers! They would be glad to take you to Olive Garden for some lasagna and even pay for your meal. All they ask in return is that you allow them to follow you home. Consistently. Like for the rest of your life.

Well. So. Just as there are many guys who may not fit your exact dating ideals, most of the ideas that come a person’s way are also unusable, fleeting, or just plain weak. Even the ones that seem really cool, that maybe have the equivalent of a Porsche and a good haircut and a decent understanding of the English language, still have serious flaws—a proverbial ego problem, an inability to make a commitment, and that old stand-by, a crazy wife in the attic. 

But here is my problem: I have a lot of ideas that are rock-solid, that I intend to see all the way through, that I love each in their own way. But I can’t pick which one comes first. I suppose I could do chronological order, but some of my strongest stories are my more recent ones. Right now there are two contending for my attention—one that I had ABSOLUTELY COMPLETELY committed to, and one that is trying to lure me away from the other one with promises of chocolates and daffodils and a wonderful plot involving magicians. 

We’ll see who wins out.