I’m not sure where this expression comes from. I’m assuming it’s got something to do with riding horses really fast without bridle or stirrups maybe, but in any case it’s apt, no? It means no holds barred; giving it all you’ve got; and it’s what I have to be doing with my writing. I find it hard, and I think this is the same for most writers, to put all my eggs in one basket. I have my (precious darlings) sub-plots and secondary characters and plot twists, and I need to keep at least one nestled up in my arms for the next book because (hushed voice) maybe I’m going to run out of ideas.
But the funny thing is, the more you pour out, the more the cup fills up. It’s like a magic cup, you see. Although not really a cup at all but your mind and your wonderful imagination and those memories that have been buried in your subconscious for eons that suddenly appear, and you use those too. And the more you empty it all out, the more there is.
So I’m making tons of notes in the interim before my editor gets back to me with her notes, and I’m dredging up every last cool idea I might have been saving for Feltus 3 and putting them in this book instead. And let me tell you, the ideas keep coming, and all those extra small details too. The ones that make an imagined world more real and give characters that extra dimension.
It’s sort of an exhilarating leap of faith because I still hear the whisper of that shadow voice telling me to hold something back. Just in case.
In my experience at these times it’s best to just crank the loud music, bend your head over the page and write away, until the niggling doubt is buried under all the stuff pouring out of you.
Idea begets idea.
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