Dale Hurst – Author - Novelist news and other titbits
  • Home
  • About Dale Hurst
  • Buy My Books
  • Blog
  • Podcast – The Dale Hurst Writing Show
Home
About Dale Hurst
Buy My Books
Blog
Podcast – The Dale Hurst Writing Show
Dale Hurst – Author - Novelist news and other titbits
  • Home
  • About Dale Hurst
  • Buy My Books
  • Blog
    • Lust & Liberty
    • Sin & Secrecy
    • You Can Hear Chopin
    • Short Fiction
    • Poetry
  • Podcast
    • Season 3
    • Season 2
    • Season 1
  • Get in touch
Browsing Category
Archive
Blog

What to do with Bad Ideas, Off-Cuts and Throw-Outs

July 9, 2023 No Comments

Waste not, want not. It applies to writing as much as anything else. There may be some little gems hidden in bad ideas. Here’s what to do with them…

I have a ton of plans on my laptop. Plus countless scraps of paper, notes on my phone, jottings in the back of notebooks… all relating to potential ideas for books, poems, films, plays, etc. Some of them, I consistently look at and add to and think: Yes, this is a good idea. But the majority, they’re made on whims. Ideas that I scribbled down quickly before I forgot, only for me to forget why I thought it was a good idea at all. And as such, they may never see the light of day as stories in their own right.

Bad ideas are, in my opinion, anything from which you can’t formulate a direction. Maybe you can’t attach believable characters or a feasible storyline. Perhaps the conflict is not plausible or credible. Or it may just be unoriginal. However, there may be flickers of usable content in those ideas.

So, the thing to do is start up a brand new Word document (or whatever word processing software you use). Use this as your bank for all your jottings. Include all the stuff you’ve noted on your phone, anything you have written on scraps of paper. Keep it all in one place. You never know — you may be working on one of those good ideas and something may call to you from this bank. A gem that you can salvage from the scrap. Whether that’s a character name, a piece of plot, or a line of dialogue.

Off-cuts and throw-outs

As many of you know, the two books in the The Berylford Scandals series took in total 12 years to complete and publish. And as you might expect, in that time, I read and re-read the manuscript countless times. Giving rise to a lot of story content and characters that didn’t make it to the final products.

This wasn’t necessarily because it was all bad, in my opinion. Some of it was, but not all of it. There’s a lot from the Berylford chronology that has been written, and gets alluded to in the two novels. The early political career of Abel Stirkwhistle, for example, and the subsequent mysterious death of a Norwegian nobleman. Or the marriage of Lady Vyrrington’s eldest daughter Venetia. These still exist, they just haven’t been published. And while the Berylford series is on hold for now… one day, who knows? I may find the time to go over those cut chapters and formulate brand-new, full-length stories.

If you run into the same situation, where you’re cutting and culling from your manuscript… if you find anything that you think has potential, but just doesn’t belong in your current story… again, use your bank document. Cut and paste it into there, give it a placeholder title and a couple of lines to remind yourself of the context. One day, it may come in useful.

In short, don’t permanently throw anything away unless it really is just terrible. Keep all your ideas – bad or otherwise – written down in one place, plus anything you throw out or cut from your drafts and manuscripts. You may thank yourself in future and find the right place for them.

Thank you for reading. Do you have a question about my ongoing and future work? If so, get in touch via my Facebook and Instagram pages. Also read further posts out more about my latest novel, and stay up to date with my podcast.

Continue reading
Reading time: 3 min
Written by: Dale Hurst

Newsletter

About me

This is Dale Hurst here. Novelist and journalist. Subscribe above to receive all updates.

Popular Posts

ANNOUNCEMENT: New Book in Progress

November 15, 2018

No Time Like the Present…

July 1, 2018

“To Err is Human…”

August 4, 2018

You Can Hear Chopin from the Attic: A Brief Overview

January 24, 2019

Categories

  • Ballad of a Godless Man
  • Blog
  • Characters
  • Food Writing
  • Journalism
  • Lifestyle
  • Lust & Liberty
  • Podcast
  • Poetry
  • Short Fiction
  • Sin & Secrecy
  • Travels
  • Writing
  • You Can Hear Chopin

dalehurst_author

The Berylford Scandals (1. Lust & Liberty, 2. Sin & Secrecy) 📚
Podcaster | The Dale Hurst Writing Show🎙️

Dale Hurst | Author
Find out what's been bubbling beneath the surface Find out what's been bubbling beneath the surface on my ongoing projects. New post for you to read now available on my website (#linkinbio)
.
#writingcommunity #writersofig #creativewriting #creativesofinsta #authorscommunity #authornetwork #igbooks #bookstagram #bookaddict #writingprocess
What do authors need to send to potentially catch What do authors need to send to potentially catch @abbie_editorial 's attention? This and more on the latest edition of my podcast The Dale Hurst Writing Show! Available now on Spotify 🎧🎙️✍️📚🖋️📖
.
#thedalehurstwritingshow #writingcommunity #writingpodcast #publishingadvice #publishinghouse #editorsofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcastsofig #proofreader #creativesofinsta #writeradvice
There's a lot more to publishing a book than crack There's a lot more to publishing a book than cracking out a manuscript... @abbie_editorial tells a few home truths about the publishing process in the most recent episode of The Dale Hurst Writing Show... now available to listen on Spotify 🎧🎙️📖🖋️📚✍️
.
#thedalehurstwritingshow #writingcommunity #writingpodcast #publishinghouse #editorsofinstagram #proofreader #authorscommunity #writeradvice #publishingadvice #podcastersofinstagram
Been in one of my inspired mania moods lately, wit Been in one of my inspired mania moods lately, with dozens of short stories and poem ideas rattling around and currently nowhere to put them 😅😅😅
.
#writerthreads #writersofinsta #writerproblems #authorscommunity #authorlife #creativewritingcommunity #creativesofinsta #amwritingfiction #shortstorywriter #poetrycommunity
New episode now available. @abbie_editorial talks New episode now available. @abbie_editorial talks us through the role of the commissioning department and how authors might get their work in front of them. Plus, my views on social media personalities... 😏😏😏
.
Listen now on Spotify 🎙️✍️🖋️📖🎧
.
#thedalehurstwritingshow #podcastsofig #igpodcasts #podcastaddict #writingpodcast #publishingcommunity #writeradvice #publishingadvice #proofreader #editor
Introducing my guest for the latest episode of The Introducing my guest for the latest episode of The Dale Hurst Writing Show – @abbie_editorial – who lent her expertise to discuss the role of the commissioning department within a publishing company, among other things... New episode available from this Thursday! Don't miss it! 🎙️✍️📚🖋️📖
.
Catch up with the podcast on Spotify (#linkinbio)
.
#thedalehurstwritingshow #writingcommunity #writingpodcast #publishinghouse #editorsofinstagram #proofreader #authorscommunity #writeradvice #publishingadvice #podcastersofinstagram
Wales (Cardiff/Caerphilly) ft. Mediaeval castles, Wales (Cardiff/Caerphilly) ft. Mediaeval castles, libraries and dragons 🏰🐉
.
#exploringwales
How significant is that emotional connection to wh How significant is that emotional connection to what you're writing? Just one of the many things @bertiebrosnanfilms and I talked about in the most recent podcast. Filmmakers from aspiring to pro ought to give this episode a listen – all on Spotify 🎙️🎧🎬🎥
.
#filmmakersofinstagram #thedalehurstwritingshow #screenwritersofinstagram #screenwritersofig #screenwritercommunity #filmmakinglife #filmmakersworld #writingpodcast #podcastersofinstagram #igpodcast #writeradvice
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Dale Hurst

  • About Dale Hurst
  • Get in touch

Recent Posts

  • Progress Report — September 2023
  • Progress Report — August 2023
  • The Dale Hurst Writing Show Season 3 arriving soon
  • How to get in the right writing headspace
  • What to do with Bad Ideas, Off-Cuts and Throw-Outs

Dale Hurst

  • Email
    dale.hurst93@gmail.com
  • Address
    Poole, Dorset
© 2020 Copyright Dale Hurst // All rights reserved