We’ve all been there – that exhilarating moment when a brilliant idea hits. It’s going to be the next big story, a blockbuster movie, or a groundbreaking business that will make you rich. However, as many of us have experienced, there’s often a gap between the ideas in our heads and the written words in front of us. Why?
It’s the Language
When you have an idea in your head, it seems clear and well-thought-out because you naturally understand it. But when you try to explain it in words, you realize that it’s not as clear as you thought. Writing needs a level of precision and organization that thinking alone doesn’t.
Language has its limits, and not all ideas can be expressed perfectly in words. Especially with abstract or complex concepts, finding the right words can be tricky.
That’s why in writing we often hear the advice to write evocatively. This means that we need engage our senses by only using words.
In your head, you can see the full moon beautifully. But on paper, simply writing “a beautiful moon” doesn’t capture the scene. You need to write something like: Fireflies danced in a mesmerizing ballet, creating a spectacle of ethereal lights against the backdrop of the silent, moonlit meadow.
Your thoughts are dynamic and can change rapidly. However, when you write something down, it’s only a static representation of your thoughts at a particular moment. Unlike the real-time editing and refinement possible in your mind, the act of communicating your ideas through words will never capture this aspect effectively.
For example, have you ever listened to someone telling you a long-winded story, maybe about their dream? By their tone, they are really into it but it doesn’t go anywhere. It’s just a series of events without a climax. That’s the trouble with words. In our heads, all the events flow seamlessly together without wasted time or energy. But as thought transforms into sentences, words, and syllables, the effort the listener expends to hold attention adds up.
When it comes down to it, words are just symbols. Symbols that may mean different things to different people. Therefore, to get your idea fully into someone’s head will require something closer to telepathy — a near-impossible feat. Nobody can fully see the idea in your head no matter how great of a storyteller you become.
But we can’t blame it all on language. A part of the reason why our ideas are often better in our heads is that we haven’t fully flushed out the concept yet.
The Idea is Unfinished
In your mind, you may explore multiple facets of an idea, but when you write it down, you may find it difficult to capture all the nuances and details. You’ve got all these dots on a page, but you can’t connect them.
Writing often requires a more linear and structured presentation, forcing you to organize your thoughts in a logical manner. The act of arranging information helps clarify the relationships between settings, characters, and events, making it easier to comprehend the overall story. In this way, you see holes and inconsistencies.
Have you ever heard of the concept that the best way to learn something is to teach it? It’s the same. The best way to understand something is to communicate it.
You believe your idea can be fully formed in the process of translation, but rarely it is.
Simply put…
You’re Not as Brilliant As You Think
There is a cognitive bias known as the positivity bias, which leads individuals to focus more on positive aspects and overlook potential flaws in their ideas. When an idea is in your head, it might seem brilliant because it exists in an idealized form. It’s safe in your head.
However, when writing, the fear of judgment or criticism creeps in. This fear can impact your ability to express yourself freely and can lead to a sense that the written expression falls short. Now that it is out there then it can be attacked and broken apart. This is commonly what happens in a writing workshop, where ideas are put to the communal test.
Overcoming this challenge often requires practice, revision, and recognizing that writing is iterative. It’s normal for the first draft to be less satisfying than the idea in your head. But through editing and refining, you can bridge the gap between your thoughts and the words on the page, making your ideas clearer and more compelling.
The first draft is a stage where writers explore their ideas, characters, and plots for the first time without the pressure of perfection. It’s a phase of discovery and experimentation, which may result in writing that feels unpolished — because it is.
It’s only an illusion that the idea is better in your head than on paper. Don’t let it trick you. Your idea is not as good as you think, and your idea is not as bad as you think. Until you bring it out into the physical world, there is no way to examine it properly.
So don’t be afraid to bring your idea into the real world and put it to the test. Let’s see where it breaks. You shouldn’t waste your life counting fool’s gold, saving up your great ideas like a miser, because they won’t be as great as you’ve thought. Instead, take your best ideas and take your worst ideas — whichever ones inspire you to take action — and run with them, expand on them, go off on tangents, just keep creating knowing that whatever you’ve made is better than an idea. And some day, with enough practice and luck, you’d be able to connect all the dots that you’ve made. A creation that matches your imagination.
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Elliot Chan 