How Do You Refine Your Creative Idea or Concept?

Most creative endeavors start with some raw material. Take writing a novel, for instance. When I start out, I think about my basic storyline and the characters that will live within the story. Who are they? What motivates them? Do I like them? You don’t always like your characters, true! What do they look like? What’s at the center of their heart? Do they have a heart?

I also think a lot about the environment where they live. Not just their home, their city, their country. What time of year are we in? Will we be traveling through seasons? And where is this story going? Ah, the plot! So often I don’t know the various twists and turns in the story because it is evolving in real time, like me and my creative process. That is possibly one of the coolest things about writing. If your characters live (and they will!) they will have a life of their own. They will go places you never thought they would go. They might fall in love with unlikely people.

That’s the true beauty of the creative process, letting it unfold.

So, how do you refine all this raw material? How do you coax your characters down the road of their journey? How do you make sure that voices stay true, that loose ends come together? For me, I keep an outline or list. I make sure I track dates, like a diary, so I know how much time has elapsed, how much time there is to go. I keep my character's personal development in mind (and I write it down). Their subtle shifts and changes can happen almost imperceptibly, but I need to make sure I am steering them in the right direction. Or, if they are doing it of their own free will, and they can, then I need to make sure that I am tracking these changes.

Yep. It sounds a little spooky, how can something that is entirely made up have its own soul, its own destiny. I can’t really explain it, but it can.

We are stewards of a wonderful process, and we need to let our ideas live. Refinement is part of the gig.

For me, it’s just attending to the inner voice that tells me what is happening, and then flowing with my story, my characters. Oh, and did I mention having an awesome editor that you trust and who offers sound advice. Here’s the key: writing is rewriting. So don’t get discouraged in whatever creative work you do. Refining brings out the gold.