No One Cares About Your Great Idea

NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR GREAT IDEA Years in the past, I was chatting with my pal Jess Lebow, and advised him about this nice concept I had for a online game. I don’t even bear in mind the thought anymore, but I do keep in mind his response: “No one cares about your great thought.” He went on to elaborate (and I’m paraphrasing), “Everyone can have a fantastic concept, however nobody will actually take notice until you sit down and do something about it.” He was talking in regards to the online game business particularly. Was I ready to put something down on paper at least? Raise cash? Create some sort of proof-of-idea, and so on? Well, evidently, I am not the founder and CEO of a online game firm and once more, I can’t even bear in mind what that great concept was. Last October I was in Los Angeles for the Writer’s Digest Conference West and in my seminar on writing science fiction and fantasy I went off on a little bit of a tangent on this similar topic. If you've an concept for a novel or a brief stor y (or a online game or an invention, and so on) . . . so what? I know that sounds impolite, even condescending, however I don’t imply to be either of those issues. I want you to take that concept and do one thing with it. Here’s what got here to me, off the cuff, at that seminar: Leonardo Da Vinci is broadly accepted as certainly one of history’s great geniuses, the very embodiment of the “Renaissance Man.” Da Vinci was all over. Remember a number of weeks ago after I pontificated on the necessity of mental curiosity? Da Vinci had that in spades. One of the issues we know from looking at his mountains of notebooks, was that he once drew something that looks suspiciously like a helicopter. And now to our flying traffic reporter Leo Da Vinci in Chopper Zero! Da Vinci’s helicopter, powered by the muscle of the pilotsâ€"in all probability four malesâ€"would by no means have been in a position to go away the ground. We know, actually, that late fifteenth century Italy didn't see DaVinciCopters roaring throughout the skies. What Da Vinci was missing within the 1480s was the inner combustion engine, which might produce sufficient vitality to move itself. Becuase Da Vinci had an concept for a helicopter five hundred years or so ago doesn’t make him the inventor of the helicopter. It makes him a sensible guy, interested in plenty of stuff, with an active creativeness and a robust intellectual curiosity, but credit for really making one thing like this that actually worked goes to Frenchman Paul Cornu, although it was Russian-American Igor Sikorsky who’s considered the daddy of the modern helicopter. These guys built on developments made by others via a lot of the time since Leonardo (and back even farther than that), however they really got it flying. “But Phil,” you say, “here we're five centuries later talking about Da Vinci’s idea for a helicopter.” Sure, okay, but had Leonardo Da Vinci only just drawn photos of issues he couldn’t constru ct (and his notebooks are stuffed with many different examples of simply that) we in all probability wouldn’t remember him. When you hear the name Leonardo Da Vinci, do you consider helicopters, or this? Hey, Jesus, you gonna finish that? This is the famous Last Supper, simply considered one of Da Vinci’s extraordinary masterpieces and one of the most well-known artistic endeavors the world has ever know. Centuries later and it’s immediately recognizable. But what if the Last Supper existed solely within the type of an outline in a notebook? At that seminar in LA I did slightly improv thing the place I took on the role of Leonardo and pitched it: “Okay, so, it’s like a extremely lengthy table, and for some purpose, everyone’s solely sitting on one side. And Jesus is within the middle and he’s, like, doing this thing together with his arms unfold out and all the apostles are there and I’m pondering possibly Judas . . . bear with me on this . . . has knocked over a sal t shaker! Get it? Right? It’s gonna be awesome.” And you understand what? He in all probability did pitch the thing before portray it on the wall of that convent in Milan. But the purpose is he then actually painted the thing. There it's still, for all the world to see. Do you've a fantastic thought for a novel? Terrific. Don’t send me your pitch. Write the factor. Now, that having been mentioned, there are authors who can sell their nice ideas based on the pitch alone. If J.K. Rowling referred to as up any publisher on Earth and said, “Okay, I actually have this great idea for a collection of fantasy novels for kids,” she’d be immediately interrupted by an offer. So if you’re J.K. Rowling and also you’re reading this, by no means mind, but actually, if you're reading this, again me up somewhat. She really wrote that first Harry Potter e-book earlier than she bought it. An idea is an elusive thing. Like Leonardo’s helicopter, if your epic fantasy exists solely as a bunch of notes, no one will remember that, unless possibly you go off and do something else. If Leonardo had targeting powered flight and truly built the helicopter the story would learn “Inventor of Helicopter Also Had Idea for Religious Mural.” But the point is we’re remembered, if at all, for what we’ve actually done. Got a great thought? Get to work! â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans Great post! Thanks! Nice publish. One of the things I used to hear lots are people’s “great ideas” for smartphone apps. The world is full of great ideas. But you must do one thing with the concept for it to matter. Quite sure Da Vinci was Aries so I’m not stunned he had so many concepts but little to show for it , I’m afraid Im one too . I feel like this is not the easy reply I am in search of so I am going to ignore it. Everyone retains saying that onerous work is the reply however I’m pretty sure there's one other way. I hope in the future you'll contemplate giving us the shortcut. While I anticipate the shortcut, yes, I should most likely just get to work. I guess. Thanks Phillip, This is really good recommendation for uplifting writer’s corresponding to myself, thanks for the tip. I’m undoubtedly re-running a blog this. Okay! Sheesh! I’m going already. This is about right. When, I put up my web site at I dumbly went asking for suggestions concerning the concept before I completed writing the series I had deliberate. Of course, they have been capable of inform me the duvet design didn’t match the age group, however what else can people say? Good concepts are all over the place. Where’s the product?