You vs. The Big Idea

My little brother recently informed me that our diva dog is in love.

With a male three times her size.

And a very loud bark.

*face palm*

Naturally, I likened my diva dog's infatuation to writing. I'm currently working on a manuscript that's challenging me in more ways than one. The genre isn't my forte, the voice is too dark for my funny bone, etc. Why am I writing it, you ask?

Because I wanted to take on The Big Idea.

Let me explain. The Big Idea is that project you can't stop thinking about, but prefer to leave behind for a much more comfortable story. Let's say you write contemporary YA, but a dystopian slips through your mind's cracks and won't let go. You think it's out of your league. It is the toughest thing you will ever plot in your life. Everyone always says to write what you know, anyway. Because of this, you convince yourself you can't pull it off. Only Cormac McCarthy and Suzanne Collins can do it, but not you. You're not as talented as they are.

But The Big Idea looks so good in your head. All those scenes would be great on paper. To you, they're the very definition of awesome. You're just not up to par with it.

Here's a tip: you're wrong.

If you can dream it, you can do it. The Big Idea is in your head, and only you can write it. Literature is not about being safe. What's it about, then? Way too many things to mention here, but one of those things is balls.

Yep. I said it. Writers need balls.

And apparently, chocolate. But that's for another post.

I encourage every writer out there to be like my diva dog--stop comparing and start embracing. Trust me, she'd embrace the heck out of that T-Rex if I let her, and the threat of being eaten by him doesn't faze her in the slightest.

So tell me, have you ever had The Big Idea? Did you put it aside, or did you face it with your head held high?