If you have an idea for a story...

...and you tell someone about it before you're done writing it, does it die?

My mom and my sister and I were at a Border's yesterday, because my sister wanted to buy the latest Buffy comic. While we were hanging around waiting for her to be done buying it, we saw a woman sitting at a table with her new book. No one was lining up to buy her book, or get it signed, so she was doggedly/hopefully handing out bookmarks promoting the book, and she gave one to my mom and one to me.

The book was some sort of historical fiction fantasy about a mystical Egyptian bracelet falling into wrong hands. My mom made some comment about never wanting to read such a book, and I said, if she can write a book, why haven't I written a book already? And she said, well you've got the computer and lots of time on your hands, and I was like, this is true. Unemployment - an opportunity to write a damn book already.

So then I woke up this morning quite early with an idea for a young adult novel, and I wrote a page or so of it. Later today I told my mom I'd started writing my book, and she asked what it was about, and I told her, and then I was like, should I have not done that?

Something in me says one should keep one's good ideas to one's self until it's done, or at least until it's a draft. But then again, I crave attention for everything I write. This is one reason I don't keep a diary. It would never be secret enough. I'd want to have people read it, every entry as soon as it as written.

To compare writing to cooking, that's like making someone taste raw eggs on their way to becoming an omelette. On the other hand, I rarely write anything unless I know people are waiting to read it. So what's to do?

I'm going to keep writing this one. No seriously, I promise. If only because other people are not only totally writing books, they're totally getting them published and junk. Even if they're not that great. I want to do that.