Fiction Writer’s Toolshed | Practical Tools for Authors
You care about a writing project, but you don’t know what to do next. Do you need to explore the idea, choose a direction, keep drafting, or decide that this version is finished?
Often the problem isn’t effort. It’s doing the right work at the wrong stage: polishing when the idea still needs exploring, or starting over when the draft just needs finishing. Once you know which stage you’re in, the next step gets much clearer.
In The Creation Funnel — Part 1 — 8 Stages of Making Anything, I give the overview. Here in Part 2, we’ll look at signs you’re in each stage, signs you may be struggling, and one tool to try.
This is my current best approach, based on what I know and what’s helped me. You can use this episode on its own. Pick a project and look for the stage that best matches the work in front of you.
Listen to the episode
Fiction Writer’s Toolshed
The Creation Funnel – Part 2 – 8 Stages of Making Anything – Diagnostics | ep 011
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1. Inspiration: capture, don’t solve
You may be here if: something has caught your attention, but you don’t fully understand it yet. You’re curious. The idea feels more like a spark than a project you can act on.
You may be struggling if: you’re trying to make it explain itself immediately. You feel frustrated that you don’t have a “real idea,” or dismiss the spark because it’s small or familiar.
Think of a seed. Working the ground around it harder won’t make it grow faster. At this point, you can notice what interests you without demanding a finished story from it.
Try “Capture, don’t solve.” Write a note or record a voice memo. Include enough detail that you’ll understand what interested you when you return. Then leave it somewhere you can find it.
You may add more later or discover another idea that connects with it. For now, you’re preserving something worth exploring.
2. Exploration: wander on purpose
You may be here if: you’re brainstorming, jotting down fragments, following references or doing light research. The idea is still loose, but you’re spending more time with it.
You may be struggling if: you force it into a plan too quickly, become frustrated by what you haven’t figured out, or commit to a project before you’ve explored what interested you.
Writing a scene or trying a character’s voice can be part of exploration. You’re testing what the idea might offer. That’s different from treating the attempt as the opening chapter of a project you’ve committed to finishing.
Try “Deliberate wandering.” Set a short timer and explore one idea. Write fragments, phrases, images, things you want to see, or thoughts that seem strange. Leave the organizing for later.
I suggest 13 minutes because I like the odd number. Twelve or fifteen can work too. The useful part is spending a little time with the idea on purpose.
3. Concept development: choose one version now
You may be here if: you keep returning to an idea, make small creative decisions, and begin to picture scenes or the shape of a project.
You may be struggling if: you’ve been figuring it out for a long time without starting. You keep expanding or reshaping it, or wait for a moment when every part feels clear.
Choosing a version can feel like losing all the other possibilities. But you need something to work on before you can learn what making it will teach you. You can still change your choices.
Try “One version now.” Ask: “If I had to start this today, what version of this idea would I make?”
Choose the version you’re willing to try now. It doesn’t have to be the best version you’ll ever imagine. It gives you somewhere to begin.
4. Commitment: place the first brick
You may be here if: you’ve chosen a direction and are thinking about how to make it. You’re preparing to spend real time and effort. That can feel exciting and intimidating at once.
You may be struggling if: you repeatedly find reasons to back out, or move to a new idea whenever this one gets close to becoming real.
Stage three asks you to choose a version. Commitment asks you to give that version a go. One real piece can make that choice more than a thought in your head.
Try the “First brick rule.” Write a paragraph, a scene, or a few outline bullets for a scene you want to happen. You could also record a voice memo and move its words into your document.
That piece can be anywhere in the story. Something that didn’t exist before now exists, and you have something to build on.
5. Creation: keep going before you restart
You may be here if: you’re making pages, putting scenes in place, and choosing details that affect what comes later. You have enough direction to keep moving, even if parts are still unclear.
You may be struggling if: you keep restarting, doubt everything that excited you about the idea, or avoid the project even though you care about it.
This can be a long stretch. Each choice shapes the next ones, like puzzle pieces that need to fit together. Starting over can feel productive while leaving you with nothing beyond another beginning.
Try the “No restart rule.” For this draft, commit to reaching the end before restarting from page one or making major rewrites of the opening.
You can adjust as you go and take short breaks. The aim is to make a full draft you can improve. It can be rough. Finishing that draft gives you more of the story to work with when you revise.
6. Completion: define the finish line
You may be here if: you have a complete version and are refining it. You can work on clarity, consistency and final details because the main pieces exist.
You may be struggling if: you tweak small things indefinitely, keep saying it’s “almost there,” or feel afraid to call it finished. Even small changes can affect details elsewhere in the story.
There may always be another sentence you want to polish. Waiting for every doubt to disappear can keep you here for a long time. Finishing often takes a decision.
Try the “Finish line rule.” Before your next session, answer two questions: What does done mean for this version? What specific issues still need to be addressed?
Work on those issues, then finish the version you chose. Give real problems the attention they need, while noticing when you’re adding more work just to avoid stopping.
If that endless tweaking feels familiar, the episode on fiction-writing perfectionism offers another way to examine it.
7. Sharing: plan your landing
You may be here if: you’ve called the piece finished and are sending, posting or publishing it. You may find yourself waiting to see how people respond.
You may be struggling if: you hesitate to share, keep finding reasons to delay, or feel flat after the work goes out into the world.
For a long time, the project gave you another thing to do. After sharing, that forward motion can feel as though it’s gone. A quiet response can also feel discouraging, but it doesn’t prove the work wasn’t worth making.
Try “The planned landing.” Before you share, decide what you’ll do afterward. Choose something restful or low effort: a book you want to read, a show, a game, or a short break.
Give yourself a way to step back that doesn’t depend entirely on someone else responding. You don’t have to rush into a demanding new project the moment this one leaves your hands.
8. Reflection and regeneration: look back with distance
You may be here if: you’re looking back at what you made, noticing things you missed, and feeling a mix of pride, discomfort and a different perspective.
You may be struggling if: you jump into another big project to escape that feeling, feel restless without the old assignment, or either criticize the finished work endlessly or avoid thinking about it.
This is a chance to recover and learn from the work. A small project you can play with may fit here too. The question is whether you’re giving yourself some room or immediately replacing one demanding assignment with another.
Try a post-project debrief. After some distance, ask:
- What worked better than I expected?
- What was harder than I thought it would be?
- What will I do differently next time?
I suggest waiting at least a week, or two or three if you can manage it. Use the distance to notice what you learned, rather than turning the review into another attempt to perfect the project.
Pick one project and one next step
Here’s a way to use the episode’s stage descriptions and tools:
- Choose a project. Pick one piece of work you want to move forward.
- Find where you are. Which stage best describes what you’re doing now?
- Look at what you keep trying. Are you demanding a clear plan from a spark, restarting instead of drafting, or endlessly polishing a complete version?
- Try the tool that fits. Choose one action for your next session. If you’ve just shared the work, that action might be giving yourself a break.
You don’t need to solve the whole project in that session. Knowing what this part of the trip calls for can help you choose something useful to do next.
Fiction Writer’s Toolshed: Practical Tools for Authors is a Make Exist podcast hosted by Tim Kearney. It offers hands-on training for fiction writers to diagnose writing problems, build their skills, and finish more work.