How do you keep ideas to yourself before they're ready?

[mharrington]

Some time ago, I was advised to keep my ideas to myself before they're ready to be released, which I take to mean that my ideas should be fully developed before they're ready. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of "open brainstorming", though?

Anyway, where can I put down my ideas before they're ready to be posted? Doesn't that mean everything must be completed beforehand. Along the same lines, I was also advised to not do only small fragments of complete walkthroughs, but to do them all in one post. How can I do, say, a verbal tour of a ride in one sitting? I'm very detail-oriented, which is one reason I'm asking these things. Another reason I ask is because I overthink things.

 

[mharrington]

If you want it to be just your ideas then you should jot them down under Microsoft Word or LibreOffice. Then release them whenever you want thereafter. It's probably best not to do it all at once either and blow your wad. It's best to separate the lands and when you release them. If you do it all at once and too soon it may just fall off the board.

However if you want to take the alternate route and make it an Open Brainstorm. You should probably give a general idea for a land within the thread. Then in 1 to 4 weeks do another land and so forth.

What about just individual rides, which is what I usually do? I tend to overthink my ideas because I tend to focus on small details. I often worry over proper placement of rides in lands because I don't want to get criticized for my ideas not fitting that land.

In terms of open brainstorming, I've been criticized (and not unfairly) of not actually being open to different ideas, even if I don't agree with them, as I sometimes don't. I was advised years ago that, if I didn't want anyone to actually pitch their ideas on top of mine, and I just wanted feedback/critiques, then I should say not "open brainstorming", but rather "feedback and critiques". That way, hopefully, others would take the hint and tell me not what they want, but what they think of my ideas.

 

[mharrington]

I'm not doing a land, I'm just doing individual rides. For instance, I've done one for a water thrill ride themed to "Pinocchio" (https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/pinocchios-whale-of-a-voyage-feedback-wanted.977676/), but I'm not at all certain if it's well done. I might just as well have put it on a Microsoft Word document, because at least I know no one else saw it there either. I really want to get feedback, but any responses dwelled on the unimportant things (such as not making the Blue Fairy be the live-action version), rather than actually trying to figure out how the ride could work. I had to do that pretty much all by myself, and it wasn't easy to do when I'm detail-oriented.

 

[mharrington]

@MickeyMouse10...

Am I not supposed to have the ride idea fully fleshed out before it's ready? That means all of the details worked out? Or would it be possible to give a brief barebones look at the scenes? For reference, I'm trying to do a revival of a Mickey Mouse dark ride in the Magic Kingdom, different than Runaway Railway, more akin to the classic shorts of old.

 

[mharrington]

You could always give a basic idea and then flesh it out later. I'd love to see what you have.

I thought I was supposed to have everything fully fleshed out. I believe @spacemt354 told me to do my own ride completely from beginning to end, instead of relying on others to help me out. But I'm detail-oriented, as I said, and so I try to do everything.

Shouldn't it all be fleshed out in one sitting? Isn't it repetitive to do a "basic" (i.e., barebones) idea and then do it more fleshed out? If not, how can I separate out the two, so it won't seem like I'm just repeating myself?

 

[mharrington]

You could just give the story premise and then later on go into details. It's your world man.

But how could I let them know that? The only thing I can think of is to briefly describe the scenes and then go into more detail afterwards. But how can I let them know that's what I intend to do so I will not confuse them or make it repetitive?

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm an overthinker.

 

[spacemt354]

I thought I was supposed to have everything fully fleshed out. I believe @spacemt354 told me to do my own ride completely from beginning to end, instead of relying on others to help me out. But I'm detail-oriented, as I said, and so I try to do everything.

Shouldn't it all be fleshed out in one sitting? Isn't it repetitive to do a "basic" (i.e., barebones) idea and then do it more fleshed out? If not, how can I separate out the two, so it won't seem like I'm just repeating myself?

The advice was in regards to your desire to control your projects. When your attraction concepts were not complete, you would ask for suggestions but many times not approve of the suggestions others provided. So the alternative is to simply design the whole ride then ask for feedback on the completed project.

You are detail-oriented, so yes I'm sure it's hard to articulate all your concepts for your rides in one sitting. But then again, I'm not sure why you have to design the entire ride in one sitting. Sometimes it takes a while - but if you're eager to get feedback on your ideas, there's nothing wrong with posting a sample of your ride, then filling in your details later.

 

[mharrington]

The advice was in regards to your desire to control your projects. When your attraction concepts were not complete, you would ask for suggestions but many times not approve of the suggestions others provided. So the alternative is to simply design the whole ride then ask for feedback on the completed project.

You are detail-oriented, so yes I'm sure it's hard to articulate all your concepts for your rides in one sitting. But then again, I'm not sure why you have to design the entire ride in one sitting. Sometimes it takes a while - but if you're eager to get feedback on your ideas, there's nothing wrong with posting a sample of your ride, then filling in your details later.

I thought you said that if I didn't want to surrender control, then yes, I should do it all in one sitting by myself. You said yourself that I should design the ride myself, so yes, I feel it does need to be all done one sitting.

When I do give a sample of the ride (or just post on it, period), then I like to wait until I get a reply on it before continuing on. Unfortunately, all too often, that's not the case; much of my stuff is just me posting back-to-back, which I thought was frowned upon. Even if it isn't frowned upon, it shows me that no one cares about my stuff except myself. So why should I post if I'm the only one who cares?