Idea Debt
Jessica Abel has posted an essay about something she refers to as "Idea Debt". It's about the sunk cost fallacy, and how creators sometimes refuse to give up on an old project because of the time they previously put into it. Read it, please.
I can relate to what she's talking about. Somewhere at my father's house there is presumably still a box full of 3x5 index cards with notes for my millennia-spanning epic novel tying together the labors of Hercules, the quests of King Arthur, and the adventures of star pilot Jason. Which I wisely gave up on around the same time I discovered boys-and-girls. But I still have notes (not quite "binders of lore", but still...) for Olympus: The Next Generation, which was to be a feature film starring my high school classmates, about twelve demigods and minor deities (carefully selected after extensive research) who take over after the Olympians (except Athena, the new queen) are slaughtered. I hauled them out and worked some more on them about 10 years ago. And more recently I have outlines and notes and two issues scripted for a 12-part maxi-series updating the Gospels as a satirical modern-day graphic novel.
It's hard to know where to draw the line, to decide what's Idea Debt, and what's Idea Investment. I've been plugging away at JAQrabbit Tales for over six years now, publishing for a year and a half, with over 200 pages to show for it, but I still have "binders of lore" – finished scripts and others in various states of completion, a huge color-coded spreadsheet with dozens more story ideas – that may be dragging me down. I've definitely lost some momentum on it, and I've thought a little about putting the weekly posts on hold, either to give me time to rebuild my inventory, or to work on other things.
Do you have any binders of lore that you're dragging along with you? Are they for things you still sincerely want to do? When do you think you'll get to them?
I can relate to what she's talking about. Somewhere at my father's house there is presumably still a box full of 3x5 index cards with notes for my millennia-spanning epic novel tying together the labors of Hercules, the quests of King Arthur, and the adventures of star pilot Jason. Which I wisely gave up on around the same time I discovered boys-and-girls. But I still have notes (not quite "binders of lore", but still...) for Olympus: The Next Generation, which was to be a feature film starring my high school classmates, about twelve demigods and minor deities (carefully selected after extensive research) who take over after the Olympians (except Athena, the new queen) are slaughtered. I hauled them out and worked some more on them about 10 years ago. And more recently I have outlines and notes and two issues scripted for a 12-part maxi-series updating the Gospels as a satirical modern-day graphic novel.
It's hard to know where to draw the line, to decide what's Idea Debt, and what's Idea Investment. I've been plugging away at JAQrabbit Tales for over six years now, publishing for a year and a half, with over 200 pages to show for it, but I still have "binders of lore" – finished scripts and others in various states of completion, a huge color-coded spreadsheet with dozens more story ideas – that may be dragging me down. I've definitely lost some momentum on it, and I've thought a little about putting the weekly posts on hold, either to give me time to rebuild my inventory, or to work on other things.
Do you have any binders of lore that you're dragging along with you? Are they for things you still sincerely want to do? When do you think you'll get to them?
Comments
Ouch - work on writing. Yep that's me.
If I think about it (honestly trying not to, which I guess is the point) I have colossal Idea Debt because I've never published anything. Most of the time I have 'amazing idea' that becomes 'research and plot snippets' that then becomes an issue or two of writing before all forward progress is halted.
They're all still there on my PC, folders and folders, some with no movement in years. It's pretty sad when you think about it. But then the alternative is not doing it and I'm not ready to admit defeat yet.
** On a side note @BrandonSeifert - it sucks to find out there won't be more Witch Doctor but I'm glad you had the run you did. It's a brave decision and I'm looking forward to whatever you do next. Good luck.
So, @Owen_Jones
That's the million dollar question I guess. I think there are a couple of things I need to address to be honest.
Firstly I'd say it's a lack of confidence in selling my ideas to an artist, I have no CV to suggest their investment in a project would actually pay off. Plus the few stories that I've had go to the art stage were where an editor engaged the artist, so I don't have a network of artist friends to sound out about projects. Also living in the UK we don't have the kind of comic communities like Portland or much of a convention season, everything is net based which makes it a little unreal (if that makes sense).
I also have issues with deciding whether I have enough material to pitch to an artist - I suspect this is a part of idea debt where you constantly want to add details and more information, perfect a story rather than drawing a line under it and moving on. Which I suppose is project organisation?
I'd say lack of knowledge/experience is also an issue, I've never moved beyond a certain stage so it's an unknown to me. When you do something once, it immediately gives you a much better understanding of what it entails, until you've experienced the process it's kinda guesswork.
This obviously involves me finishing something (or taking it as far as possible)
Lastly, I haven't had a go at the short story market, which may help me with some of these issues, all my ideas have been for a minimum 4/5 issues.
Making a plan out of the above and progressing that plan is now the next step (seems so easy when you talk it out doesn't it
)
Its easier to find an artist to commit to this, and then, you can (perhaps jointly) fund a short run of mini-comics (black and white is fine) which you can sell at cons, or hand out to publishers, editors and future collaborators as a calling card.
But everyone is exactly right - it's easier to get an artist to commit to that, and you get good at stuff.
Or, everything Marv said. It was my exact plan.
This ALSO solves the resume/CV question. By the time I pitched Tradd on Strode, I had 200+ pages of stories, pitches, what have you, which served as evidence I could do the job.