What Are They Worth?
What’s a book or story idea worth? Somewhere between nothing and a whole lot.
There are classic examples of stories that have made it big, attributed to the idea being so original and captivating. The first example that comes to mind is Tolkien’s works. His ideas changed the way people viewed an entire genre. If it weren’t for Lord of the Rings and its effect on the fantasy industry (essentially creating it), I may never have been motivated to write, but even if I still desired to be a writer, any realm that resembled fantasy would most likely be out of the question. The fundamentals and core of fantasy that Tolkien started and others advanced would be nonexistent.
Tolkien’s ideas for the Hobbit, Middle-Earth, Lord of the Rings, etc. were worth a whole lot.
Even venturing outside of genre creators, there are genre definers. Some examples include Herbert’s Dune, Lucas’s Star Wars, Rowling’s Harry Potter, and Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive. None of these individuals created an entirely new genre like Tolkien did (some opinions may disagree), but their ideas are so attractive and different, that it creates an entirely different experience for readers to discover.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are millions of cases for ideas that are worth nothing. I’m not referencing ideas that have been tried and failed. I’m not referring to books or movies that have been released or published and then flopped. The largest example of ideas that are worth nothing are the ideas that never leave one’s mind.
Chances are, if you are a storyteller or content creator in some way, you won’t create a new genre or redefine what people think of one. One thing for certain though is that an idea you have that you do something with, no matter how small, insignificant, or how few people interact with it, has much more worth than any idea that you keep to yourself. I could just be assuming this, but I would imagine there are ideas we have that should be scrapped, but an idea with potential that never leaves our mind has just as much worth as the terrible ones we throw away.
I have ideas that I want to write into books and share with the world. I want my ideas to provide worth to myself, family, friends, and others. Placing a dollar value or a measurement of perfection on an idea is only one aspect of its worth, and a limiting one at that. Rather than wait for years on end for the groundbreaking, life changing idea to magically form in our minds, why don’t we instead bring to fruition the ones we already have formed and find enjoyment from.
Let’s summon the worth that our already existing ideas possess.
