Stop Saving Your Ideas (and what to do when you have too many)
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2015
- This week and next, I want to talk about one of the most valuable and personal resources we have as creative people, our ideas. Next week we’ll consider what to do if you don’t have any idea of what to create, but right now I want to talk about the opposite problem, when you have too many ideas.
Shownotes for this episode: characterdesignforge.com/2015/...
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"Overwhelmed with creativity." THIS. I have habit of thumbnailing and boarding down my ideas in my sketchbook. But when i go back, the thrill just wouldn't be there anymore. Your video is very informative.
On the other hand actually, making a constant point of having my ideas boarded down helps me keep track of my to-do list. Some are too ambitious, yes. But the ideas help me direct me as to where i need most tweaking and learning. And as you said, we do have problem of jumping from one project to other (I have been doing that of late.) You made realize that it is important to have faith in myself that even if I have a new idea, i can always go back to it when i have finished my current idea for I have already noted down what exactly i want from my latest idea. Long post, hehe.
This really is my personal problem. Your videos are so well articulated and spot on! Thank you for the reminder.
Thank you Jimmy, that means a lot coming from a teacher! Appreciate it!
I kind of wish I had seen this video when I first created my idea at 15. But now that I've had so much emotional development and become a more well-rounded person that is working on my idea now, I'm also glad that I ended up waiting, because I have so many more great ideas, my thoughts are more developed, and my work has so much more meaning at age 24 than if I had stuck with my articulation of ideas at 15.
Thankyou so much, this is exactly my problem. I do have one question though, what do you do when you doubt your own skill because your idea is so dear to you? I'm really worried that I'm going to botch this personal project for a webcomic before I've even made it. I really want it to be the best it can be and am scared of messing it up.😕
Ultimately, you're going to disservice yourself by waiting to be good enough. You may be better off using this webcomic project as an opportunity to learn and get better through making it. Otherwise, you open yourself up to procrastinating a lot. Hope that helps!
Thankyou as always for your great advice!
Basil Baby you can always do a " remastered edition" of your idea, like Pokémon remakes :)
Basil Baby If this idea is worth so much to you, it is worth multiple drafts.
Omg! That's exactly the same problem I have!
I had a comic book idea back in the 1990s, when I was in the Army, but I was deployed at the time so I didn't really have the free time or resources to do much more than scribble out some rough layouts on an old notepad. I decided that I would develop the idea further when I returned from deployment, but I kept building the importance of the story up more and more in my mind as time went on. I drew out a big chunk of the comic in 1998, but then decided that it was all crap, so I started over again from scratch in 1999. Then scrapped all that and started over again in 2003 and 2004. Eventually, by the time I finally did get the comic finished, in 2013, the story had become stale in my mind and I felt like I was just going through the motions to get it out of my head once and for all. As a result, I'm pretty disappointed with the final result; but back in the 90s I was convinced that this was going to be my Star Wars. In short, I agree with everything you've said in this video.
Really appreciate you sharing, painful part of growth but I hope it helps on the next thing you make!
man, 7 years later, I'm finally finding this video. This is what I've been needing to hear today. I have 15 novels outlined, some of them half written. I've been stuck doing nothing for months because there's too much to work on. I've been saving some of these ideas for almost 20 years because they're too "precious"... but there really is no good reason not to be working on my best ideas NOW. I'm always going to get new ideas and one day I will die and there will be unwritten ideas, that's just a reality I need to face. In the meantime, I need to pick one and set a deadline. Thanks for the video.
wow that one really hit home
This is what I needed to hear! Thank you so much! My goal is to create the first chapter of the web comic I've been planning for years.
I just wanted to say thank you for this video. I've been saving up all of my big ideas in my head, nearly all of which are comic stories I plan to make in the future. This includes character designs, personalities, different worlds and their histories, and important plot lines. I haven't done anything with them because I'm a self-taught artist, and feel I'm nowhere near the level I should be to start making my own comics. This has also been keeping me locked in a terrible rut artistically, as I'm too ashamed of my work to even bother practicing lately.
But after I watched this video and another on character design, within a few hours, I filled not one, but TWO entire pages in my sketchbook with design concepts I've been hiding in the back of my mind. That's more than I've drawn in two months. I don't think I'm quite out of this rut yet, I've been stuck in it for years and I'm still feeling down on myself. But your videos are helping me a lot, so thank you.
thanks i think this video helped me a bit and will help me in the future. At this moment i have probably 10 comic ideas all with multiple characters and each time i sit down and work on it a bit more this thing get's more and more precious to me to the point were i'm like "i can't draw or write well enough yet, i should better work on an idea that's less valuable to me and i'm less passionate about" and this either results into me just being less excited and productive about it or it getting more valuable for me and everything just repeats and repeats.
my God I'm exactly in this stage I have this idea for a super hero comic and now I want to start at it because sometimes when I get ideas I don't think I can do it now I'm going to commit to this project
I am actually a Musician, composer and Producer, but regardless this Video was incredibly helpful. It is interesting to see, how every artist, no matter what art, can share the same problems. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for this video. It was very helpful. I've had this problem for so long, where I had a great idea, but I didn't do anything about it. I wanted to wait until I got better at drawing. It came to a point where I had to many ideas and I didn't know what to do, so again, thank you for this very helpful video.
Wow, this is something that I needed. I've been taking baby steps from not storing up all my ideas, but it's really hard to work on a story, short animation, or just an illustration when there's lots of other things to worry about in your life. I really hate that, but hopefully there would be a point in which I have enough time to just sit down and work on these things one by one.
HURTS HURTS HURTS! But it's so real and truth that I wished I had seen this before! Thank you for this!
Current situation and dont make a move to do any of them even tho all seem great. Feel as tho if I commit to one it's the wrong one or not big enough. Your video helped a bit in terms of eliminating the less important ideas and getting started on one at a time
I like to work on characters while I'm drawing them. Sometimes things strike me about them when I see them start coming together so I have notes to myself next to their drawings a lot of the time. I do have so many ideas that I want to get going on and my problem is that I'm so excited about them that I want to work on them all at once! I have finally selected just one to work on though! Hope it comes out well. What I like about drawing now and not just doing my writing is that I feel that it has really added to my stories. Sometimes I will start drawing, something comes out really well and I realize that it should be a character in what I'm working on but I didn't really mean it to happen that way. I love when that type of thing happens and that never really happened to me very much when it was just words. Or I will get to a point where I'm going through my sketch book and I have some characters worked out that go together and I realize that something I did now could really go with something else from way back when and I really enjoy that!
You nailed my procrastination down with such accuracy
I seriously needed this. I've always wanted to go into a creative career, and I've never really found the advice I need on BEING the artist and DOING the art in itself. All of your videos are so amazing and helpful and to the point. I hope to see lots more by you! :)
Man the beginning of this video sounds like my life story! But I'd love for you to make a video or something about how to get noticed or how to build up a sort of resume if you want to get published (I'm referring to a book personally but I'm sure it applies elsewhere) or if building a resume up for something like that even matters. Cause that's my biggest problem, I feel like I have to submit and win to a writing contest before I even begin thinking about my novel... or some one reading this could help me with that question. I dunno. I'm just stressed.
Also my goal is to have the first chapter of my novel written before the summer ends!
That was really helpful. My problem is similar. When I have such a big idea that I could do right now, but I don't have enough resources to work with, for example, voice actors that on forums tend to have harsh rules on how the thread should look like in order to look professional. Not only that, the grain of unknown stays in me and I have no idea if I would get the project done, since I have a very busy life.
After watching this video, I automatically drew better and I am happy with what I got. Thanks for the information.
"By the end of this month i'll have the first page of my comic drawn"
*Whips out post-it note*
"This will be my magnum opus"
Thank you very much! I guess my biggest problem is how I never seem to finish anything because of how I hop into the next idea I'm passionate about... but at the same time I keep the ones I'm most interested in being "perfect" waiting; however, I could not see it as clear as now. So I'm comitting to finishing one by one the comics I've left unfinished by focusing on them and recording my new ideas to revisit them once I'm done.
That was sort of my problem until a few months ago. I have idea of a world/story that I wanted to have as much depth as Middle Earth or Tamriel (hopefully for a game), but the scope of the work was so daunting that every time I tried to get into it, I'd shy away. I'd always fall in what I call a trap of looping skills: I couldn't write the story because I had to right the characters, but I couldn't write them because I had to write the setting, but I couldn't write it because I had to write the story (just summarizing, it was actually more more complex than that xD). So in the end I ended up facing a giant wall of things I had to know and know how to do, and so I just didn't do anything.
That was until I discovered WorldAnvil (shameless free - and well deserved - marketing!). A website to help writers, game designers, hobbyists, tabletop game masters, etc to build their own worlds. Excited with the idea, I started transferring to the site the few things I had written, and while it was pretty hard to write new things after that, I forced myself to just do, despite the quality. What happened is that I learned that sometimes we think we don't have what it takes and keep pushing our ideas for the day when we think we do, but we are so used to not doing that we get used to it, and we never actually put our skills to test and learn exactly what we are capable of. Sometimes it's just a matter of organizing properly (thanks WA!) and getting started.
i have been saving ideas for a while now. not in the same way or for the same reasons. just backups in case i dont have any ideas at the time. like "as soon as im done with this one ill do this if i dont find something better before then" etc etc.
like at 5:10
yes lol I have so many stories in my head that I need to figure out which ones to prioritize
This hit me so hard it literally hurts... All of my ideas starting back since 2005, but I haven't started on a single one...-_-
+VashWolfwood1 Just take it one step at a time my friend! Break One task down into its tiniest pieces. You’ve got this 👍
VashWolfwood1 why wth hahaha that's over 10years
I know I'm late but I'm really happy that I've stumbled upon your channel!I want to thank you for addressing this problem and helping me,and others,solve it.
Thank you so much. I'm starting in the morning.
I have a comic concept I really like that I haven’t thought about much in the past few years, I was waiting until I was ready because I knew I couldn’t draw or write it then, but I’ve realized now that I could make it how I want (and it’s way easier than the other two ideas I’ve been drafting), so I’m going to start the outline.
I have this problem. I have three ideas that I want to work on. I've decided to work on one, and to not make it too long. It will have a plotted out ending, before I start on it though, since I see too many webcomic artists fall into hiatus, instantly posting their new pages, instead of having a solid buffer and ending planned out. Thank you for this video, I will be sure to share it with friends of mine who might have the same issues. ^^
Oh, and for the idea I am nailing down: Shareen Unleashed. It's the title, and I already have characters and some of the story plotted out-- buuuut I don't want to give away too much, in case someone wants to read it, someday.
I'm going to finish chapter two of my new comic in two months and have the cover page and banner ready within next month!
I’m glad other people have the same problem as I do
It makes them easier to bear, right?
Every video of yours I watch helps me out so tremendously! I have had several comics and animations on the back burner waiting for the right time to do them, but now is the time!
I will take your commitment challenge, I will begin production on them, starting with a Legend of Zelda web-comic.
Thanks again, Mr. Eggleston!
love everything you said and the music you chose!!!
Thanks exactly what i needed! Im about write this song and record it today!💯
+Raw R Awesome, I’m so glad!
Nearly 400 likes and 0 dislikes? Great! It's just so hard to hate upon someone who is so inspiring, calming and needs more subscribers!!
Some people still find a way somehow :D Thank you, appreciate it!
I've always considered myself to be a handyman sort of artist. I love fixing ideas that just didn't work the way they were intended to. That's why I'd love to take it upon myself to make a good Scrappy Doo character, unless that's already been done before...
If I ever find a time to get started on my stories, what I hope to do a couple of short stories and figure out which one that I feel like should be a full stories. The biggest names in the manga industry like Akira Toriyama and Hiro Mashima have a collection of short stories that have inspired their bigger projects
When you have to many ideas and you want them to come out in a specific order yet you don't have the skill to do any of them.
Thanks very much! This is exactly what Im facing. I'll take your awesome advice! 😊
Awesome! Glad this helped!
well, heck. i keep postponing this idea for a game i have, because im sure the world isnt ready for it yet. the technology would probably not be able to handle all the stuff i want to have, i have zero experience with game development, and i want it to be perfect. Ive had this idea for five years now, and after watching this video i was surprised by how everything you said applies to me. i still am not sure if i should postpone it just a bit longer, i have other ideas which i actually intended to do first, sort of as preparation to get the right skills to do it, but often i find myself ditching these minor ideas because im always thinking about the big one, my magnum opus. it wouldnt be the first time i ditch a game shortly after starting development, because im not sure how to go on about it. sometimes i dont even know what these games should be about, how to keep going about them, what goes where and when and how, but i know exactly how the big idea has to be. should i leave the small ideas for later, leave them to grow, and work on the big one? im honestly not sure myself. i want it to be as good as i imagine it to be, but ive also thought that if i want it to be that good, i will have to wait a very long while, for computers to catch on to the requirements of what i want to do. maybe thats a problem by itself, and i keep adding in so much stuff in my mind that i have forgotten what it was supposed to be in the first place. i honestly dont know what to do, though
I'll finish my book artwork by the end of next week
I'm not interested in visual art, but this is really good advice for any fiction writing.
Thank you for this video! It's exactly my problem .. ^^' It helped me a lot!
1) Solid, solid, solid. How can I make sure my 21-year-old self sees this video?
Already revisited?
This video describes me to a T..
But on the point of making sure you get all your ideas down on paper.. how do i orginize those notes?
i'll write down a character, or a magical skill, a dungeon room, a combat mechanic, a clothing item, a pet, a type of foliage, scene idea, or monster. they all seem so random and it's hard to get them together in a way that's easy to come back and find
I'm planning to release the origin story of one of my villains as a comic next year. She is a villain from my main story that I'm working on, but I think that story will take a bit longer to complete! :)
I have a lot of ideas, but a lot of them are just used for flash fiction I need to write in my school and role-plays with my sister. I do have several ideas I do want to make into stories/comics/novels though.
Thank you!!
Ok I'm going to finish my cannon fodder diorama by the end of the month, thanks for the inspiration!
I'm a start doing that thing RIGHT NOW wish me luck
ONE of the ideas
This is very helpful. I'm really glad someone just told me to stick it out with one idea and see where it goes. Although I think it would have been helpful if you mentioned the idea of dropping an Idea when you know it isn't going anywhere. But then again that could be it's very own video.
Thank you! It is actually, check out my recent video "Ditch Your Darlings"! Knowing and discerning when to keep at or drop an idea is definitely difficult, I need to think on how to advise on that. Ultimately it's something age and experience helps!
Brookes Eggleston - Character Design Forge I'll certainly check it out. Thanks for the advice!
Oh man, do I wish I knew about this video at the start of college. I do saemy ideas in a book and occasionally I do scrap them, but I know I'm procrastinating about waht I really wanna do.
I shall finish this comic by the end of summer 2018. There!
Recently I got like 3 different ideas at once. I attempted to merge them into one thing but they're to different and I cant figure out which one to work on if any. I don't have to make anything new right now but I feel the need to.
Well, I do have ideas for a card game that I'm playing but kept the idea to myself because of how "I don't have a resume ready" (for any art-related work) and "sorry kid, but we're not accepting ideas" (and they went and make super borderline OP cards, anyway).
I would suffer so much because of my ideas, I would make the characters and write down my ideas, then look at it and think, “why...? Which one...?” Then *die inside*
But this video legit saved me 😅
my only problem with having to many ideas is basically when I get an idea but then I get a new idea and im not sure which to choose. I made a character recently and I mostly everything done right down to the backstory but then i had a new idea for the character but it would require me to change almost everything about the character and make them related to another character. Now I because of the circumstance in the story I couldnt make this idea into another character because then they would be too similar.
I felt this so many times. I wanna do what I have in mind head. A comic called the protectors.
I need to stop doing this but it's just hard to find time what with a full time job and people who think that my free time is their time. I would sometime tend to find old character drawings and see what I could do to update them.
I neEDED THIS SO MUCH
10/5
+LR Saibamen Pushing for a perfect 13/4, but I'll take it! 😄
I'm scared to start my favorite ideas because I'm worried they'll fail like the story you told us about your Denizen comic. Is it a really good idea to risk it and lose it?
My goal is finishing the first episode of The Monochromatic Knight by Winnipeg comic con, in just under 2 months
Well... As a person who can only think of characters, video-games, and game mechanics... I better start writing this stuff down :\
At the minimum, I can finally start to say my ideas at least look good on paper ;)
I know this video is old, but I got a question...
Speaking of ideas, whenever I come up with one even on the most unfit times, I write them down on papers instead of storing them inside my head. Yeah, I might not look at it later, but I have a good reason to let them go out of my mind and let my imagination come up with some more. And if I get lucky, I might look back! (Because I have a habit of not letting important things go, no matter how many of them...)
So... Is this a good idea?
make a body for every head with different shapes i did today on blender till the end of the weekend
this is me XD i have so many ideas, then when i draw them, i can't seem to complete the story and the characters...........and most of them seems to not look the way my mind is telling me
I'd like to commit myself to draw new page of my comic every two days... Let's see how it goes ;)
I'll finish my short story in 8 days :)
What if I just write the ideas down rather than save them in my brain? I've been writing an idea for something about a useless superhero but I have no further ideas for how that idea will be executed.
+Nikku4211 Definitely spoke about recording ideas in the video.
I am at 1:45 and so far it is like you are reading right from mind... it's creepy man
This is me...
Yeah, well, here's my problem... I have this massive web of stories that are literally about *everything*. I set up an entire multiverse, with this center point as the focus. I guess I'll work one comic until it reaches its conclusion, someday, and then some more... And then begin work on animated series based on the few, main comics, and from there build more stories in animated form.
I just write them down
you definitely watched the video