It took me ten years to write Sailor Helga.
I used to write Hey Arnold! fanfiction. By the time I retired in 2018, I had written over a dozen stories about that fictional kid with the football-shaped head.
One story in particular took much longer to write than the others. It was a crazy crossover idea marrying my two favourite shows at the time: Hey Arnold! and Sailor Moon. Thus Sailor Helga was born.
The story was conceived in 1999, but I didn’t hit ‘Publish’ on the final chapter until 2011. (This is a story I’ve recounted on more than one occasion; if you care to read about my frame of mind at the time, refer to this blog post.)
I wanted to zero in on the state of the story before I got it in on the page. For years, it hopped around in my head, nagging me, popping up at inopportune times while I was at work or was trying to accomplish some other pressing task that needed my focus.
For the longest time, I was afflicted with a bad case of a roaming plot bunny.
What is a Plot Bunny?
Simply put, a plot bunny is a story idea that gets stuck in your head and refuses to leave you alone until you write it.
Traditionally, the term is used in the fanfiction community, but I believe it also applies to individuals who are sitting on an original story idea.
The mind is a dangerous place to store an idea; left to its own devices, an idea can mutate and morph from the fragility of memory, or in some instances, it can hop away from you entirely, opting to take up residence with a creative that will take immediate action.
Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert discusses this transient nature of ideas in her book Big Magic:
“You might miss the signal because you’re watching TV, or shopping, or brooding over how angry you are at somebody, or pondering your failures and mistakes, or just generally really busy. The idea will try to wave you down (perhaps for a few moments; perhaps for a few months; perhaps even for a few years), but when it finally realises that you’re oblivious to its message, it will move on to someone else.“
Elizabeth Gilbert
Therefore, when a good idea makes an appearance, you must do the only humane thing for your sanity and get it out as soon as possible. Yes, you must slay your plot bunnies.
How To Slay Your Plot Bunnies
I’ve lived through my fair share of annoying plot bunnies, both with fanfiction and with original fiction, as is the case with my current YA work-in-progress. Therefore, here are some strategies you can employ in order to slay that plot bunny once and for all:
CAPTURE IT IMMEDIATELY
It may just be a fleeting moment of inspiration that hits while you’re out for a walk, at work, or lying in bed.
Resist the temptation to address it later, that the idea will still be there when you are ready for it. I know from experience and from countless missed opportunities that that’s simply not true.
My advice is to always have a writing implement on standby for whenever inspiration strikes. Keep a pen and notebook by your nightstand so you don’t have to uproot yourself from bed. If that seems too cumbersome, become well acquainted with the notes app on your smartphone for recording ideas. I also find the app Trello to be immensely valuable for jotting down quick ideas
JUST GET IT OUT
Don’t wait for the idea to be perfect and fully-formed. It will never be perfect; instead, bring that fledgling idea into reality so that it’s a tangible, moldable concept.
Whether or not the final product is what you intended is irrelevant; the important thing is that your idea is out there and that it can be improved upon until it is something of which you can be proud to call your own.
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
Norman Vincent Peale
DON’T PROCRASTINATE
It’s important to act on an idea as soon as it presents itself to you. Wait too long, and you may miss your window of opportunity.
An anecdote: A few years ago I had an idea for a novel where Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz ran a detective agency in a steampunk world.
I patted myself on the back for what I thought was a clever idea, but did nothing with it. Fast-forward several months later, and I spot a copy of Cheshire Crossing at my local bookstore.
The universe will not wait around for you to act on an idea. Grab hold of your plot bunnies and throttle them into submission. Then, and only then, can you tame them and transform them into something that will bring you great joy instead of causing you undue stress.
So, to recap:
HOW TO SLAY YOUR PLOT BUNNY
- Capture it Immediately
- Just get it out
- Don’t procrastinate
What do you think? Are you suffering from a bad case of plot bunny syndrome? What are some of your strategies for coping with plot bunnies? Leave your answers in the comments below!