How to Deal When You’re Told Your Idea Won’t Work

by | Jul 1, 2013 | Uncategorized

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website.



In last Wednesday’s discussion about the special books we write and skill set and all that, a very interesting question arose in the comments. Cait asked, “What if the book that’s special to you is too unique, or too ‘different,’ and people have told you it won’t work? Are people right or are you right?”

Often this question gets phrased as, “Should I write for the market or myself?” This is a question that almost every working writer must ask at some point – what kind of compromises am I willing to make?

I’ve been confronted with the dreaded statement of, “your story won’t work,” or, “this won’t fit in the market.” When I’m being told that, here’s how I deal with it:


Who is this person?
If you’re being told that a story idea won’t work, this is the first thing I would start with. What kind of credentials does this person have? What’s their reputation? Does their opinion mean much?
People tell me all the time that they’re so glad I write for teens because there just “isn’t much out there for them to read.” Um, you mean other than the books shelved in Barnes and Noble’s huge teen section? Other that tremendous list of YA books you can order from Amazon?
These are people who mean well but don’t know their stuff. It’d be stupid for me to take what they say and think, “Wow, there’s not much out there for teens to read.”
Make sure you’re thinking through who’s offering their opinion. And this goes for people who are feeding you happy thoughts too – before you take it to heart and act on it, be aware of who they are.
Why do they think what they do? What are their arguments? How many others agree?

So you’re being told your story idea won’t work. Sometimes (especially if you’re me and you would rather just agree than be in conflict with someone) this can be so deflating we don’t ask questions. Try very, very hard to not get defensive. Instead ask why.
Is there a particular element of the story that makes them think this? Have they seen it too much already?   Push them to offer concrete reasons. If they already know of five other Snow White retellings releasing next summer, that’s information you want to know.

Why do I think my story will work? Does any evidence back me up?

Sometimes our stories are more of a “gut” thing. Like Stephen King says in his book On Writing, “Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do — not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad.”
Regardless, if you want to publish this book, you’ll need to provide “evidence” that it’ll work. This is where you look at the current market and say, “I think my books will succeed for this reason.” If you were Stephenie Meyer trying to sell Twilight a few years ago, you might say something about how many millions of viewers Buffy the Vampire Slayer still had when it was cancelled. If you’re wanting to write about the 1960s, you can point to successful shows like Mad Men. 
Think broadly with this – video games, graphic novels, movies, and hot topics in culture.

Is there a compromise I can make?

There are very few (I would say “none” but as soon as I do, I’ll discover one) new writers who naturally write stories that meet all the criteria of a published book. They write books that are too long or too short. Their main character is too perfect or too unlikable. Their prose is too flowery or too dialogue heavy. Their beginnings are too slow or too quick. Their endings are too neatly tied or too ambiguous.

When we start out, we all have a lot to learn about communicating our stories to readers. While writing a shorter book or cutting words may grate against our nature as a writer, those who do it often see that the story is strengthened. (And the reverse is true too – those of us who naturally write short books figure out our pacing and depth issues, and the story is strengthened because of it.)

Writers have to make choices about what matters and what doesn’t. I wanted to cling to dialogue tags, but I chose to give them up when I saw the wisdom behind action beats. I decided it was more important to me to learn how to use action beats than it was for me to cling to my writing instincts.

So if you find that for some reason your story idea doesn’t work in the market, it’s a great time to ask if you can compromise and:


Am I willing to make that compromise?

My heart has always been to write for teens, but for a while when all those doors had closed, I decided I would try my hand at writing for adults. I figured maybe I could break into the adult market, and then come back around to writing for teens. I didn’t walk very far along that path when an agent asked to see more of Me, Just Different. 

There are some compromises I’m happy to make as a writer. Word count? Sure, I can tailor my word count for a publishing line. A word or two they would rather I not use? Okay, fine. Typically that pushes me to come up with something I like better anyway.

But there are plenty of compromises that I wouldn’t be able to make.

To circle back to Cait’s question, “are people right or are you right?” I would answer with, “how much does it matter to you?” Maybe they’re right that your story wouldn’t work for a publishing house. You might have to make the decision to compromise a book contract for the story you’re burning to write. Or maybe you’re right and the story will be unique in that wonderful way that has editors fighting over it. There’s risk involved in writing stories, and you have to decide how much risk you’re willing to take.