Have you ever come up with an idea for a story, got excited about it, thought about it, and then tried to write it but it didn't come out the way you'd hoped? Or, did you ever have an idea for a personal essay, something that would resonate with readers, written draft upon draft, then finally gave up because it all seemed wishy-washy? Maybe you had a couple lines of a new poem doing somersaults in your head, so you finally started writing, and it sounded kind of sappy, not the brilliant piece you'd created in your mind.
If you've worked on a writing project over and over, draft upon draft, and it still doesn't have any pizzazz, it's alright to let it go. If you've made the supreme effort, but you're not satisfied, it's perfectly permissible to put it in a file and forget it. Maybe you can pull it up next year or five years from now, and it will work better. Or maybe the piece will stay in the file forever. That's ok. There is no law that says a writer MUST complete a writing project.
When it doesn't feel right, doesn't work, why let it make you a prisoner? Instead, move on to something new.
I had an idea for a personal essay that I thought would be a winner. Turned out it was a real dud. My online critique group found myriad problems when I submitted it for critique. They were kind enough not to tell me it was a piece of junk, but after reading all the remarks, I figured that out for myself. I still thought my original idea was a good one, but it obviously didn't come across that way in the end. So, rather than make myself miserable or become a prisoner to something I couldn't change, as today's poster tells us, I slipped it into a file. It still rests there today and probably will do so forever.
An experience like the one I mentioned above is alright. It doesn't mean I'll never write something good again. It merely means that this idea didn't work out like I'd hoped.
There is nothing in the writer's bible that says we can't junk a piece if it doesn't work out. There's no prison sentence given for unfinished projects.
Instead, we are free to develop a different idea for another story, essay, or poem. Not only free, but encouraged to do so.
Have you ever noticed that some writers have a bestseller book for their first publication, but never quite come up to the same level of storytelling again? That second book doesn't sell the number of copies that the first one did. In fact, it could be classified as a major literary disappointment. If that happens, the author should let it go. Don't dwell on what happened. Instead, they should move on to a new story.
No one ever said that all of our writing will be brilliant, worthy of publication, or award winning. Don't dwell on that part of your writing journey. Put it behind you and move on the the next project.
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