Afarin Rava: Idea Incubation Phase

Friday, August 9, 2024

Idea Incubation Phase

I've finished typing the "family album" in Persian. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read this short post:
https://afarinrava.blogspot.com/2024/07/two-parter.html

Now, I need to edit it... and then format it. The editing seems like a challenge right now because I haven't written for publication in Persian since 1994 — and I just realized that's thirty years!!!

Anyway, because it feels like a challenge, I'm procrastinating... and I'm fully aware of it. Many writers procrastinate, but I want to tell writers — or remind them — that procrastination breeds creativity.

Some of the best ideas come when we’re not actively trying to think of them. So when we're avoiding writing by staring out the window or daydreaming or scrolling through social media, our brain is quietly piecing together the next book idea or plot twist.

How do I know this? I just had an idea for my next book... and created the outline for it — just this morning. From now on, I'm calling my procrastination my “idea incubation phase."

Dearest Devised Darling

Dearest Devised Darling: Anthology is a dedication to the brave heroes and enchanting heroines who have touched our hearts and taught us valuable lessons through their struggles and adventures — and to the authors who created these cherished characters. The contributors to this anthology, who wrote letters to their favorite fictional figures, are — in alphabetical order : Jay Armstrong, Wendy Bayne, S. S. Bazinet, Gail Boenning, Jane Cornwell, Holly Dobbie, Humzah Farrukh, Umiemah Farrukh, Marni Graff, H. C. Helfand, Ewan Lawrie, Trish MacEnulty, J. G. MacLeod, Sallie Moffitt, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Afarin Rava, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Carolyn Ruffles, Edward Selender, Denis Shaughnessy, Wendy E. Slater, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Diana Stevan, Vicky Whedbee, Gerry Wilson, Wanda L. Worley, and George Yuhasz.

Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me

Over thirty writers hoping to make a positive change in the world have contributed their valuable life experiences and advice to children and adolescents. This book is a collection of priceless life lessons shared by random people, each of whom wished they could reach out to their twelve-year-old self and whisper their precious lessons in a way that their younger self would hear, believe, and learn. Many thanks to B.H. Arias, P.D. Austin, Jerome Berglund, Mike Bowerbank, Rocío del Mar, Holly Dobbie, Hannah Downey, Glenna Gill, Ilya Gutlin, Claude Inkwell, Althea Hogsett, Karen Hoffman, Margaret Lindsay Holton, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Heather Lynn, IA McCleery, Kelly Miller, Sallie Moffitt, Danielle Moody, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Gloria Worley Ruberry, Edward Selender, Claire Sheehy, Leif E. Slusher, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Vicky Whedbee, Peter B. Williams, Charles Dan Worley, and Wanda L. Worley, whose contributions brought this book to life.