Plot Bunnies ... FROM HELL!

[THE Rigil Kent]

So, I'm curious ... what do you do when you have a plot bunny that, no matter how hard you try, just doesn't fit anywhere in anything you're writing but is too undeveloped to be an actual story? Or, for that matter, what about story ideas you have that just don't seem to go anywhere?

[Honeybee]

I have a lot of ideas knocking around my head at any one time. Sometimes, it just takes time for them to gel.

I wanted to write Ember, Spark, Flame for ages. All I knew was that something heavy went down on Vulcan that finally got TnT together for good - it took a word prompt (Flame) to finally have a framework for the story.

So, inspiration can hit at any time.

But one thing I know, you can't force a story. It comes in its own time.

[Aquarius]

Sometimes I do get those little snippets that just don't fit anywhere. All I can say is, let them percolate. Their purpose always comes clear later. Either for a story you haven't thought of yet, or they'll eventually turn into something significant of their own right.

One of my best Han/Leia stories was born from the phrase "eat your damn spaghetti" being stuck in my head.

[Hummingbird2]

Deleted

[Kathy Rose]

So, I'm curious ... what do you do when you have a plot bunny that, no matter how hard you try, just doesn't fit anywhere in anything you're writing but is too undeveloped to be an actual story? Or, for that matter, what about story ideas you have that just don't seem to go anywhere?

Whatever you do, write the plot bunny down! I've had some wonderful ideas I didn't know what to do with, then -- poof! -- they're gone because I didn't jot down what the idea was. I have a folder on my home computer solely for that purpose. I go back on occasion and look through the poor languishing plot bunnies, and sometimes a new idea to develop one of them hits me.

I've had an idea for a quick, cute scene for several years, but I can't work it in anywhere! And it's not enough on it's own. I guess it's just going to sit for a time longer.

I've only had one or two stories that petered out on me. Got one right now, actually. It's a massive story, too. I figure I'll just let it sit and maybe I'll get back to it. It's funny because it started out as an SGA story, but that wasn't working, and I put it aside for almost a year. Then I went back and totally rewrote it as an Enterprise AU story. That generated several more chapters, but then it stalled again.