Ciao, SEers. Last time it was my turn, I wrote about the first step in writing your masterpiece—idea generation. Some would argue that’s the most important part. Without that initial spark of creativity, wherever it comes from, there’s no story. But is it the most crucial part? That’s hard to say. If the spark can’t be developed past its initial interesting premise, it’s no more than a compelling tidbit. It may eventually inspire something larger or become a scene in a fully fleshed-out work, but on its own, it’s useless. By all means, save it in your inspiration file, but don’t waste your time trying to turn it into something it can never be.

Easier said than done, I know. If you liked it enough to write it down, you won’t want to give up on it. So, how can you tell if it’s worth working on?

Let me…