What To Do When Your Writing Idea Changes
Dear Writerly Woman,
I went on a road trip last week, driving north through California. I went to a rest stop, and when I got out of the car, I saw a beautiful scene.
The eucalyptus trees were shining in the sun, and there were trees in blossom behind them.
I thought the blossoming trees were cherries, but when I did a little research I discovered they were almond trees. There were miles and miles of blossoming almond farms on my drive.
When I started writing this post, I was going to write about special moments of beauty like this, but now I'm thinking about the climate and the impact almond farms have on water usage.
So now I want to write about the strange dichotomies in life, the Both/Ands. How almond farms are BOTH beautiful AND hard on the environment.
And isn't this so representative of the writing life? You start with a plan, get into it, follow your curiosity, and then your plan wants to change.
I used to find these moments challenging, because I thought creative success meant following through on whatever idea I thought of first. Changing my vision mid-project felt like failure to me.
I don't think of it like that anymore. I do my best to let the writing inform what it wants to become, no matter what my original idea was.
It is true that sometimes commitment to one idea is needed, but I can tell when an idea needs to evolve when it either doesn't come together or it leads me to new and deeper inspiration.
This is a dichotomy too, because often times my original ideas are BOTH good AND need to evolve.
Whenever I try to force myself to stick with my original plan when it needs to change I feel tense and stressed. I lose some of the passion for my project.
When I let myself go with the flow and change my vision, I tend to feel relaxed and joyful. My creativity becomes exciting and feels right again.
If you ever feel tense or stressed about a writing project, ask yourself where you are trying to force your idea to be what you originally thought it should be. Let yourself celebrate your original good idea, and then bravely ask yourself where your idea needs to evolve. It's ok to make changes in service to your creativity. In fact, the changes are the creating. <3
Love,
Emma