Has it ever happened to you that someone, knowing you are a writer, says, “You know what you should write about?” And then they tell you an idea. Or three. Or five. And has that ever happened to you at a time when you don’t really have much to show for the things you are working on?
My point is that there is this monumental disconnect between what people think a story is and what a story actually is—between what an idea is and what a story is. Some once explained it to me by saying that an idea is like smiling at an attractive person across the room. Finishing a book or a movie is like having three kids with that person.
Because ideas are so easy, it happens all too often that a writer launches into one only to spend years going in endless circles only to wind up demoralized and frustrated.
What Is the Difference?
An idea is usually a “what if” scenario—a topic or a set of interesting and unusual circumstances. It is essentially stationary. A story, on the other hand, is an account of how one thing transforms into something through structured progression.
When I work with memoirists, novelists, and screenwriters, the most common issue I see in early drafts is a wealth of ideas but a lack of story. You can have the most fascinating setting or premise in the world, but if nothing is moving or changing, there is not narrative engine driving the plot (and the reader) forward.
What Are Some Examples?
We can see this distinction in iconic films. For example, the idea of The Matrix is that machines are farming human bodies to power a dystopian world. That is a brilliant premise, but the story is about how an ordinary computer programmer becomes the savior of humankind. Similarly, the idea of Forrest Gump is that thirty years of American history are told through the life of a single individual. The story, however, is about how a divided nation comes together through the eyes of an innocent protagonist.
In both cases, the idea provides the world, but the story—the transformation through structured progression—provides the meaning.
What Is the Takeaway?
An idea by itself is insufficient; it must also work as a story. To bridge this gap, you must have clarity on who or what is going will undergo a transformation. Without a clear arc of change, your project remains a stationary concept rather than a living narrative.
**This post is adapted from a video I made some time ago.