Pretty much whenever I get a story idea, I have to write it. Whether I can finish it in a timely manner is another matter.
It’s actually difficult to pin point an exact “one idea” though, but if I had to pick a single story that turned out exactly as the type of story I envisioned, that would be Eternal.
However, that particular story wasn’t immediately apparent initially. It actually took several other stories to get through before I finally decided that I finally got it right.
Probably first started with a scifi CYOA I did called Paradise Violated. That’s when I started doing more world building/backgrounds in stories. I enjoyed doing the format I used for it, so it would become sort of a partial staple for awhile.
First real attempt was with Legend, which was my first attempt at doing an “epic.” That one however turned out not to be what I was going for and realized it about midway through. It became a slog and generally unfun to write. I actually didn’t even finish it until like 3 years after I started it and would often take a break from writing it to pursue other ideas that I was more enthusiastic about.
There were many reasons for this, but one of the main reasons was I soon learned I do NOT like writing game elements/stats and the like. I’m a pure CYOA writer that focuses on story plots, character development and dialog.
So in-between my breaks with Legend, I attempted other epics focusing more on story. Ground Zero would be a lot closer to what I believed I was attempting. Lots of branching, different storyline paths, separate “winning” epilogues, etc.
Still, it was missing something and that was namely a villain protagonist. Now granted in several of my stories before then (including GZ) you could play as a bad guy, but having an entire story dedicated to playing as one (rather than just a few different paths) was something I wanted to focus on. Plus I really wanted to have a CYOA that followed a protagonist literally from an early age all the way to death (And not just dying due to unfortunate choices, but rather old age)
So the next attempt was Necromancer. And that one was much closer: world building, backgrounds, villain protagonist, epic scope, etc. but it still wasn’t quite there. For one despite the epic scope, it was actually shorter than GZ.
Still, there was a lot to be learned from Necro and GZ, and they remain vital pillars of what was to come.
Eventually after a few more years I finally envisioned fully what I wanted to see in the story that I had yet to create which was Eternal.
The original idea was sort of in my head for awhile, but it was going to be scifi. However, by this point I realized I worked better with fantasy settings in general so I went for a more fantasy setting (There were a couple other reasons too), though dark fantasy due to the subject matter.
And finally to get it right once and for all, the story starts off with the protagonist right when he’s in his crib. This would definitely be the cradle to the grave CYOA I had been trying to create.
Eternal, much like Legend took 3 years to finally finish, but the difference was it was a concentrated 3 years. Whereas with Legend it was finished more out of a sense of obligation than desire to see it through. (Probably if I had been more enthusiastic about Legend, it wouldn’t have taken that long)
As for the original idea compared to what was completed? Well I guess you could say it was perfect in one way since it’s what I set out to do as far as the basic goal idea, but other than a few solid story plots I had in mind for various endings, there really wasn’t an “original idea” to follow. It was solidified over the course of several other stories being written.
And while Eternal was the reached goal I was always going for, there was still room to attempt different things and it inspired me to later revisit old story ideas and make them into epics as large as Eternal (or close to it) such as Suzy’s Strange Saga and Rogues (Which was my own personal “reboot” of Legend and to make it much better)
Basically even with less time that I have to write nowadays, I eventually get around to finishing most ideas if mainly for the sole reason that I want to see how it’s going to play out.
Even with outlines and knowing how it’s going to begin and even end, it’s the “middle” that will often get changed somewhat as you decide what works, what doesn’t, what can be shortened and what can be replaced with something better.
