What story ideas do you hope to tackle in the future?
Q&A With Shay Each Sunday
Q: What story ideas do you hope to tackle in the future?
A: I have way too many ideas, like most writers, I’d say. I’m not saying I’ll necessarily get to everything I list here either, but these are certainly some ideas I’ve had over the years that have been sticking with me and that I have planned to tackle. Maybe something else will pop up that can’t be ignored, though. That’s one of the fun and unpredictable things about writing.
When I first started writing I naturally gravitated toward YA, and I’d say that’s the genre I’d most like to stick with. I may branch out into other genres in the adult market in the future, but for now I still have plenty left to accomplish in the YA world. Even though I have been holding to YA, my first novel that has not been published was a YA suspense, and since then I moved toward coming-of-age issue-driven works. My debut Fractured (coming October, 27, 2020!) is an issue-driven coming-of-age story. The manuscript I have started since completing Fractured is also in the same vein, though a drastically different story.
I hate to admit, but I’m starting to get a bit burnt out on heavier topics already, which is unfortunate because I really do plan to finish my next YA novel before starting something new. I still love the general idea for the story and am looking forward to seeing where it goes, but I also have the desire to switch it up when it comes to sub-genre. After this, I’ll definitely explore something different.
I still plan to rework my first novel, which is more of a YA thriller. It’s also going to be a tough task to rewrite something that I wrote when my skills were not as developed—and something I had declared “finished” many times.
I also have an idea for a different thriller, though I’m not sure if it’ll be YA or adult (or if it will get written at all). I can’t give away my premise!
I want to write a nonfiction book (or two). There is a memoir I have been wanting to write at some point from a particular time period in my life, but I feel like a memoir will take exponentially more time and agony than fiction, specifically because I haven’t written much nonfiction before, so I’m not as acquainted with the form. I have always had a harder time writing directly about my experiences because it feels more restrictive to me.
Interestingly, I never planned on writing much poetry, but since publishing my collection Bleeding Flowers last year I have been more and more drawn to the short form, especially because I can get something deep and meaningful out while also being brief. So, now I have plans for at least 2-3 more collections of poetry in the future. The next one will (hopefully) be about growing up selective mute and suffering from extreme shyness and social anxiety. (Read more about selective mutism here and here.) I have written quite a few poems that still need to be edited and reworked for that collection so far. Maybe a 2021 release? This announcement is me being accountable.
I have always loved writing short stories, they were what I mainly wrote in my graduate program, but I haven’t written a short story in quite a few years now. I haven’t had any big ideas for any lately, but there will certainly be more to come. Well, I’ve had one idea and it’s fall-themed, so now would apparently be the perfect time to write that…
I guess, here’s the sum up of my main/current story ideas for the future:
Current work-in-progress— YA coming-of-age novel.
Return to my first ever novel— YA suspense.
Thriller idea (can’t give away what that idea is!)— YA or possibly adult/new adult.
A few poetry collections. My next one on selective mutism, goal: 2021.
WAY down the road— memoir.
Reminder: Write more short stories.
I don’t think I’ll ever run out of book or story ideas. I have way more ideas than this, but these have really been the ones staying in the back of my mind, simmering. I think I haven’t let more manifest into something bigger at the moment because that would get too overwhelming trying to get to all of them when I tend to write pretty slow. Well, I don’t necessarily write slow, but my revision and editing process is very long. I’d say I most likely write more drafts than most. This list already looks kind of overwhelming, especially for someone who hasn’t been writing much new material of late. One day at a time!
So, I guess I better get to writing, right?
Do you have any interesting story ideas for the future?
