Easier Thought Than Said

This is a continuation of a post from about a month ago (actually, it's from exactly a month ago, go figure).  Most things are easier said than done.  Coming up with words takes far less energy than turning them into a real, tangible thing.

Sometimes, though, coming up with words is the difficult part.  Our ideas do not come to us fully-formed. We get flashes of insight. A story may have a scene or a character or a dialog or a relationship, but a book does not pop into your head.  Sometimes, even a synopsis or a plot doesn't come into your head.  You just get those quick slivers of ideas.

So what do you do with them?  Do you think about them and what a cool story you could probably come up with from those flashes?  Or do you sit down and actually plan out that story?  Can you at least come up with words to describe those scenes?  Can you explain what you have in your head to somebody else?

In my experiences, if you can turn your thoughts into words, the rest will come easily.  Sometimes this is the first step you need to take in order to make the rest happen.  But once you take that first step, the rest will become easier.

Ideas are cheap.  They're a dime a dozen.  Doing something with them is how you make them valuable.