Deciding what goes in and what stays out?

[Jennyluvsbooks33]

I've been told by everyone that's ever read anything I've written that I should write a book. I have plenty of ideas for a book. The problem is that every time I sit down and start writing I feel like I'm writing TOO MUCH. Ideas start coming and thoughts pouring out. Then I get discouraged because I realize that at the rate I'm going my book will have to be 3000 pages long and I give up. How do you focus and decide what to put in and what to leave out?

[KS Crooks]

A- Decide where you want your characters to start mentally and physically. B- decide where you want them to be mentally and physically at the end of the story. Fill in the middle with whatever is needed to get the characters from A to B.

[Gnome]

Write everything and cut it out later. You may find that you have enough for a 10 book series or you may find that there is no actual plot.

In my opinion what you're asking is all a part of the editing process and you need something on paper before you can start editing.

[Khaya]

I agree with KS Crooks, but to add to it, it depends on whether your story is more plot-driven or character-driven. What KS Crooks describes is if your story is more character-driven. If it's more plot-driven, decide where you want the plot to start and where you want it to end, then fill in how your character gets from point A to B.

I'm the more organized type when writing, so what I do to sort all my ideas that have not been interweaved into the story yet is to have 3 idea scrap piles. Playing on the word 'scraps', I imagine building up the story structure like building a bot or something. The first scrap pile is the "I'm not sure where these pieces goes" pile. The second scrap pile is the "pretty sure I need these pieces" pile. And the third is the "pretty sure I know where these pieces goes" pile.