Some ideas excite more than others, but often that depends on what you want out of them. For certain, in human activity nothing happens without exciting ideas to spark a plan. I’ve been fascinated by Systems Thinking for most of my life, and a lot of it is moving ideas around, seeing how they’re connected and seeing if you can re-order and re-organise them.

Ideas are exciting.

I normally end the year with a post and I’ve wondered what to write about for weeks, then I had ideas about ideas and I got excited. If you’re an author, whatever stage of the journey you’re at, ideas are central to your purpose and work, or are you a reader? You’re invested in ideas also. I would go so far as to say all authors are readers, but not all readers are authors.

Some Ideas are More Exciting than Others

Well, I had one over-ambitious idea this year and I almost succeeded in carrying it out. I don’t regret trying it, and I need two things to fall into place to make it happen. It’s difficult, but not impossible. 

Ideas Change and Evolve

I’m struggling with my current dark fantasy series. At the start, I had hoped to have books 2 and 3 out this year, but the core concept changed while I was writing book 3. As an author, it shouldn’t alarm you; it’s writing life. Often, even with the best outlining in the world over weeks, an idea will evolve, or when you scratch the surface of the idea in the first draft, you uncover the real gem. It caused me delay and set me back about 6 months, but it will be worth it and I think I’ve nearly nailed it now. The thing is, my original idea was consumed by an idea that’s turned out much more exciting.

Beginning and End

In real life, my year has ended better than it began. I moved house, got one book out (only one) but learned a huge amount about the publishing journey and I accepted an invitation to partner with a co-writer for screenplays. It’s working well and I’m excited about the ideas we come up with and how we develop them. We live in different countries, but I’ve known my writing partner online for several years.

We read each other’s work and have provided feedback. During this year, we went through similar struggles of moving house (for different reasons) but mainly because our living situations became untenable. Uncanny, really, and we cheered each other on, telling ourselves we could do it.

Every real life achievement starts as an idea, then becomes a plan, and then you make it reality. Cliché, I know, but this thought is so powerful. Belief turns ideas into dreams, and action makes them real. That’s not to say you don’t revise some plans on the hoof. Sometimes things turn out that way.

It’s nearly that time of year again

What now for 2023?

After the pandemic and a run of health struggles, I’m dealing with a major setback, but it is what it is and I’m getting help with it. Covid isn’t going away any time soon and Long Covid has negatively impacted the UK’s workforce.

There’s the cost-of-living crisis and the tragic effect on individual lives, made worse by the shrinking of the nanny state, as we call it, both of these having a negative effect on UK levels of productivity as workers scramble for solutions or have their energies diverted from work to find private enterprise solutions to needs formerly met by the state.

The new, thinner Britain might emerge okay, or even stronger, who knows? But there’s a lot of pain and attrition for millions getting there, and our existing social fabric might not survive it. The trauma and cost borne by millions of families just isn’t worth it, in my opinion. 

Despite these dire social conditions for most of the population, I’m going into next year with new ideas and a new plan, and I wish the same for you. Have a wonderful holiday season. May it refresh you and bring lots of exciting new ideas. Are you working through it? Thank you, and we appreciate it.

A Word about My Newsletter

It’s evolving. I currently offer a one-size-fits-all monthly missive, but this isn’t ideal. I write stand-alones (single books) in several genres and I’m aware it’s annoying to readers to get details of a book that doesn’t interest them. I will be ‘segmenting my list’ (equally annoying marketing term, I know) some time during 2023 into the genres I write in, and I’ll send out the general newsletter less often with alerts to new releases within genres so readers can sign up to that list if they want to. Where do you sign up to the general newsletter? On the right sidebar, click on the cover image for Twin Flames, or grab the pop-up box when it shows.

Will you do me a Quick Favour?

Can I ask you for a wee Christmas gift for me and my cover artist? Her brilliant cover design for Twin Flames got selected for the AllAuthor Book Of The Month for December Awards, and we need your vote to get it into the next round. You can cast a vote through Facebook if you don’t want to open an account. Just click on the blue ‘Log In With Facebook’ button. It only takes a few seconds, and it’s free. Thanks very much. 

Here’s the link. (Again.) Thanks to you and much appreciated. We ideas folks need all the support we can get. Once again, wishing you a fabulous end-of-year celebration, however humble, and remember, the Winter Solstice arrives on 21st December, after which the days lengthen inexorably until 21st June and we can look forward to the balmy days of summer.

Want to see more of my books? Go to the Home Page, click on the drop down list and select the book whose page you want to go to. Here’s a seasonal anthology I contributed to, absolutely relevant this year and a great gift for the horror fans you know.

Images courtesy of the wonderful and talented Picjumbo.com Cover banner: Christmas/Votive Candles, which feature regularly in my stories. I love them, so inspirational.

Candles Are Calming

More Christmas Candles