I always have a stash of ideas tucked away. Even when I'm not really looking my subconscious always seems to be on an Easter egg hunt for even more gems to add to the pile.

But like every writer, I also have a stash of “rotten eggs" - ideas that didn’t work or fell flat (or should that be fell splat?)

Sometimes those ideas aren't even necessarily bad - they're just a bit wonky or in the wrong place or they've just got the wrong flavour. Maybe they really do stink and need to be jettisoned but hold your horses - what if they can be repurposed?

Try one of these 6 Ways to Resurrect Your Rotten Eggs

1) Strip the idea back to its parts and take a look.

What's still interesting to you? There must have been something that fired you up initially. Is it the premise, a character, the tone, the setting, the theme, a single moment, or just the vibe?

2) Extract one good thing and rebuild around it

Lean into what still works. Is it a line? A character? A situation? Keep that bit - and throw everything else out. Create a new idea around the strongest element that you still love.

3) Rethink the Form

If the idea doesn’t work as a short story, is it a monologue, a scene, a poem, a piece of flash fiction or even a social media post? Perhaps it's a short film idea rather than a feature film idea, perhaps the stinky novel idea contains the genesis of a great opinion piece or article - you get the idea...

4) Flip a significant component.

What happens if you change the POV, protagonist's gender, era or genre?

5) Keep all the elements (or most of them) but change the tone completely.

What happens to your idea?  A dramatic idea might be far more original when you try it funny and wry.  A light, fluffy concept might need a darker edge. Try writing it in the opposite tone and see what happens - you might suddenly unlock a version that you think is great.

6) Pitch the stinky idea to a pal over coffee.

Ask them what's lacking. You're not necessarily asking for a solution but rather a conversation that will inevitably spark new possibilities for this particular egg. Or at the very least determine whether it's a tinker-with or toss-it idea.

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