![Adding a new idea to a book can hurt your novel / [Image credit via Christopher/ Flickr]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/10/25/660x290/b_502x220x82/adding-a-new-idea-to-a-book-can-hurt-your-novel-christopher-via-flickr_1654101.jpg "Adding a new idea to a book can hurt your novel / [Image credit via Christopher/ Flickr]")
If you're in the middle of writing a novel and you feel like you may be getting closer writer's block, the first thing that you may do is go for a walk and take a breather. Sometimes, the best idea surface when we're thinking about anything but the novel. But at the same time, your research may also include reading other books, short stories, or even watching the news. You are searching everywhere for some inspiration that could help boost your novel and do everything you need to get out of the writer's block.
Even though you may get a bunch of Ideas, you know that not all of them are going to make it into your novel.
Some of the ideas are downright outlandish while others may have some potential. It's up to you to organize your ideas to figure out what exactly is going to work in terms of your writing. One thing is for sure though: Random ideas can be dangerous.
Write it down but don't write it in
When you get an idea that you could potentially use in your book, it's important that you Write it down. Maybe you have a small notebook that you carry around with you where you can write down your ideas. That's totally fine and many authors do this. But there are also many authors that choose to focus on developing one solid idea, ideally one of the first ideas they get.
While you should write your ideas down, don't immediately write them into your novel.
This could be dangerous because even though the idea may work well in your head, it may not be well-developed enough for your novel. Getting a random idea and inserting it into your book can seriously hurt your writing and your novel may suffer from it.
Planning it all out
Many people believe that the success of their stories is because they had taken the time to plan it out.
They believe that they are successful because they took months planning out the characters, took time to figure out what works and what doesn't for their story, and then figured out who was the villain prior to the story even being written. If you're suffering from writer's block and need a new idea because you're stuck on a chapter, then you haven't planned out your novel at all.
It's important that you write down your ideas when you get them, and then spend time developing them to see if they could even work for this particular story – or even a novel at all. Don't worry about bad ideas coming our way. Bad ideas are better than no ideas at all. It's the name of the game.
How do you handle new ideas when you get them?
