For me, sorting the ideas I want to share is often more difficult than not having an idea to write about at all. There is always some idea or another floating around in my head. Deciding which ideas fit together takes up more of my time than writing.
Some of the best ideas I have come as I’m drifting off to sleep. A lot of creatives I’ve talked to have the same experience. The bridge to our subconscious connects at just the right time, and BAM there is a flood of ideas to keep me awake! I have to write them down as fast as I can or they fade away.
The problem, if you can call it that, is that I have so many ideas that kind of fit together, grouping together like ideas isn’t enough. I also have to build some kind of framework that helps these ideas form a bigger concept or at least a coherent narrative. That effort keeps me up late too.
I’m certainly not complaining about having a wild imagination. Plenty of writers struggle to come up with an idea they feel is original enough to write about. My problem is narrowing the field to just the ideas that can carry a story. Working those concepts into characters, setting, dialogue, and description feels easier by comparison.