Orphans in Our Writing Files

 

Question for today:  How many unfinished pieces of writing do you have in your files?  The follow-up question is:  Why are they not completed?

If you answered yes to the first question and " don't know." to the second, you're not at all unusual. Most writers have numerous stories, essays, articles, and poems that are not finished. Can you answer that 'Why?' question honestly? 

Maybe you merely lost interest in the project. It happens when we aren't satisfied with what we've written, or we hit a problem area, and it seems to be too much work to fix it. The easy way out is to put it in a file for 'later.' Maybe it wasn't as good an idea as you originally thought. Easier to move on.

Perhaps you honestly meant to go back and finish a story, but a new idea came up, so you worked on that and then another one and it kept on going. The little orphan story stays in the file, possibly forgotten.

Maybe it was a Christmas story, and it was January when you started it. You filed it thinking there was plenty of time to work on it before summer when it should be submitted. Then you get busy and just plain forget it. 

My suggestion is to make it a once-a-month practice to go through the file of unfinished pieces. Pull one and give it your full attention. Finish it! Submit it! You benefit by having a new piece of writing that is completed and ready to market as well as the satisfying feeling you will receive. Don't try to do them all, one after the other. Once a month is fine. That still gives you plenty of  time to work on new story ideas.

Don't neglect those unfinished pieces. Maybe the problem areas will suddenly become more clear to you as you search for solutions. Maybe the initial excitement for the project will rise up again and inspire you. There are all kinds of 'maybes' involved in reworking old stories. Give it a try. Start checking your files for unfinished work and see what you can do to complete each one so it is no longer of orphan status..