: Re: If I wouldn't want to read the story, is writing it still a good idea? I struggle with forming full-fledged ideas. I'll come up with a snippet of an idea, have a hard time fleshing the idea

@Radia543

Sometimes, I'll begin forming an idea, and then realize that the story wouldn't appeal to me as a reader, despite the fact that I have interest in it as a writer.
If I wouldn't want to read the story, is writing it still a good idea?

Yes, writing it is, but probably not polishing or publishing it.

Write that story, and as you are going down a metaphorical highway of writing, keep an eye out for off-ramps that might lead you to more interesting places. Invite, rather than fear, "distractions" which might take your story in a different direction.

If one of those "distractions" seems promising and interesting, run with it and let the creativity flow, even if that means dropping ideas about where you were planning to go, and even if you recognize it means that a lot of what you wrote in the process of getting there will have to be scrapped.

To the extent that you can, start with the seed and just keep writing as long as you can until you get to something interesting. Even if the place you started wasn't that interesting, you may wind up somewhere that is, which you would not have reached without starting with the throwaway seed.

To an extent, this also works with collaborative nonfiction in which an initial drafter proposes a "straw man" as collaborators are often more willing and able to make even drastic improvements compared to starting with nothing.

My favorite example of this is probably To Kill a Mockingbird, which started out as a different story, and evolved into its final and highly successful form (in part) through encouragement to explore more about one particular character.

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