I seem to always have ideas but when I write them down they don’t come out as well as I hoped. So I started thinking of ways I can improve.
One way is to use a writing group. Because of my time restraints, a physical writing group is difficult. The flip side is that without that weekly physical pressure it can be hard to be consistent. (I think when my time restraints lighten up, I’ll try a physical group. Possibly next year.) I’ve been trying Scribophile and I like it.
The other thing I’m experimenting with is borrowing more heavily from existing works that work. Of course, I would change the story but I would use the structure and some of the elements and change it, mix it with another genre, or conflict point etc. This is actually a very common practice but sometimes I think people think of it as stealing. If you didn’t change anything than the characters names, I would say that was stealing.
I have been outlining a book and even got to the point where I paid for some feedback. It was all very good. The problem I think is that the book is a mashup of different plot ideas. It feels mixed up.
My plot, boiled down, is the whole fugitive on the run, exposes injustice on the way to freeing himself. I started thinking of fugitive type stories. There is of course, The Fugitive, the movie which was great.
But I wanted to write a novel which is obviously different than a movie. I could use some of the plot points and try to develop it further. I did a little research and found this post about good books to read when you are a fugitive.
I’m definitely intrigued by The Fugitive novel also. I’ll start with the screenplay and novel. Understand the plot points. Because right now, my outline is a total mess going in different directions. It is too complicated.