How Fiction Authors Stop Using Ideas as an Escape Hatch
The Idea Filter Framework: Choosing What Deserves Your Commitment
Authors Note: I need to say up front that my conversation with Ann went off-target, and this article was the direction we were meant to go. I do apologize. That said, you now have TWO valuable sets of information instead of one. I recommend you consider this article as intended, as it’s still 100% valid and useful.
The free article exposed the lie most writers live with quietly.
This one gives you the tool to stop repeating it.
Ideas are not your enemy. They’re not the problem.
But without a filter, ideas will sabotage your progress while convincing you you’re being productive.
In my conversation with Ann Kimbrough on Nothing About This Is Safe, we circled an uncomfortable truth most writers feel but rarely articulate. New ideas often arrive at the exact moment commitment becomes uncomfortable. Not because the idea is urgent…but because finishing asks something of you that brainstorming never does.
This article is about learning to tell the difference.
What follows is not a motivational pep talk. It’s a decision-making framework you can apply every time inspiration strikes…so ideas serve your work instead of replacing it.
Why Writers Misdiagnose the Problem
Most writers think they struggle with follow-through because they lack discipline, time, or energy.
That’s not the root issue.
The real problem is that ideas feel safe.
The beginning of a project asks nothing of you except imagination. You can’t fail at a blank page filled with potential. You can’t disappoint anyone with something unfinished. You can’t be judged for a story that hasn’t fully revealed itself yet.
The middle is different.
The middle demands honesty.
Skill.
Decision-making.
Vulnerability.
It exposes weaknesses you can’t fix with enthusiasm alone. That’s why so many projects stall at 30–60%.
When a new idea appears at that moment, it doesn’t feel like avoidance. It feels like relief.
That’s where the Idea Filter comes in.
