Totally Addicted to Complexity

I have this slight problem when plotting a novel: I'm never satisfied with a simple premise. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. For me, it's usually a good thing, in terms of creativity. When I wait for other pieces to come to me and expand my idea, my work is always stronger for it. But this also keeps me moving slowly at times, which isn't a good thing.

In Kings & Queens, the novel I'm close to shopping, I first had an idea for a love triangle, so I let the characters tumble around in my brain for a while. Soon, a dream gave me the suspenseful element I needed for my love triangle to be more than just...a love triangle.

In the sequel I'm working on, I had a basic premise of children with weird abilities. Then I found inspiration for a new novel in another dream about a serial killer psychically linked to a child. But I realized this new concept fit perfectly with the book I was working on. They had some similar weird threads so I decided to merge the two works.

I can't seem to just stick with one main drive like obsession, revenge, love, triumph, even though these types of stories have established audiences. I have story ideas for all of these things, but I can't stop wanting to expand them into greater concepts...bolder, scarier, weirder ones.

Maybe someday I'll be able to keep things small and deliver a tightly plotted, linear work with one main goal and plenty of opposition, but then maybe not. There's a method to my madness and simplicity just doesn't seem to be "me".

How do you work? Do you favor simplicity or complexity?

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.