Writing is hard, but the more you write, and enjoy what you write, the better it gets. – Alice Monroe

If indecision is your crutch, know that you are not alone. But remember… Opportunities and possibilities are limitless, so we have to find the one that works. Sometimes I’d get stuck because I couldn’t decide if I want to turn left or right or up or down or this way or that way when I get to the fork in the road. I’d have so many ideas, and they all seemed so important, equally important, equally creative, and glimmering with potential. I had too many ideas and no possible way to use them all, and then I’d get stuck, unable to decide.

But, by some convenient twist of fate, I started reading short stories, and while some of them were good, some strange or wonderful, and some utterly depressing, they taught me one invaluable lesson:

All those ideas I couldn’t decide between in the primary WIP could find places in so many other stories. Ultimately, as far as the worrying about wasting ideas was concerned, I realized it didn’t matter what I decided.

What mattered was what worked best for that primary WIP, and I would see the quicksand for what it was. That’s when I realized I needed to plan.

Where does the story ultimately need to go? What does my protagonist need to achieve?

Instead of dwelling on the short-term outcome of that particular scene, I would take a step back to analyze the long game.

How does the story need to end in order to have a satisfying resolution? What is the climactic event?

After establishing exactly what needs to happen in the climax and resolution, plot your course backwards from your end, to where you are stuck. You needn’t stress yourself that this road map has any permanence, but it will guide the way to get you through the mire, providing a light at the end of the tunnel to see you through. By knowing what needed to happen after that troublesome scene, I would be better equipped to get through it.

All those other ideas can be recorded into a notebook, or onto cue cards and sorted to be used later in other stories, or a continuation of this one if it is intended to be a series. The wonderful thing about having all those ideas is that they can be used in so many different ways, ways where they’ll be better utilized.

As long as I remember that, it gets easier and easier to be ruthless about staying true to the current WIP.

The most important thing in writing is getting to the end. We have to make it to the end, otherwise it will never ever be finished. (Read Make Sure You Finish What You Start here.)

“You have to finish things — that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.” – Neil Gaiman

Ideas are the easy part. Making your story a cohesive tale is what really matters, so pick the ones that work. It’s that easy, and that hard.