Darn! I Had That Idea!

We have all had these moments. You pick up the latest novel from one of your favorite authors and darn it! They "stole your idea." That was "your idea!" You were going to make it big with that idea, and now someone else has stolen your idea!

Let me first say, the odds are they did not steal your idea! Authors any more know the problems that would stem from taking an actual story from another author. And secondly, not to slam anyone personally, why would someone with a huge following take an idea from a nobody. OK. Maybe that was a bit harsh, but I think you know what I mean. 

What really happened here is that another author did indeed put out a story with an idea that you may have thought of. The key though is that author put wrote that story and put it out there, and you didn't. The thing about the business of publishing, or pretty much any other industry out there, is that success comes from those who are proactive and get out there and do things. Those who just think of ideas will often be left in the dust. 

All of those successful authors you follow did something that you did not do. They wrote that story. They finished that story. They submitted that story. And the odds are, they promoted that story like crazy. The same goes for those of you who are published and might feel envious of your writing colleagues who "got" those great anthology deals or "got" those promotions. Why didn't you get them? It might have come down to those authors being more proactive than you were.

Being in this business requires a lot of hard work. It requires taking a lot of risks and even asking for opportunities that might not be there right now. What is the harm in asking? The worst that can happen is that the person listening might say no.

But they might say yes.

Are we all going to have those amazing opportunities? Probably not! It would be great to say so, but the odds are, it isn't going to happen. But the next time you say something like, "Wow, I had that idea?" take the time to stop and ask yourself what you did with that idea. If it just remained as an idea, well.……….