Leftovers in Your Writing Files

 

How do you feel about leftovers? Today's photo shows some lovely flowers. Put them in a vase, and they will last several days, then they look like the leftovers of a holiday dinner. Not as good as when first served. Eat leftovers for three or four days, and you end up sick of them. 

What about the leftovers you have in your writing files? Those stories, essays, and poems that you never left you feeling quite satisfied. The ones you slipped into a file with every intention of going back and working on them. 

Our good intentions get left in the ditch sometimes. Understandably so. We truly mean to pull up an old piece we've written and work at polishing it up enough to submit somewhere. Then, life gets in the way. We're busy with family, jobs, social life and more, and we forget our plan to work on that old story once again. 

One way to help with this situation is to make a list of the old pieces you'd like to work on. It requires some time to go through your saved files and select the ones you think are worthy of some extra effort. Keep the list somewhere visible. Check the list now and then, pull up the file, and start working on some revisions. When you feel it's ready to submit to a publication, check it off the list. 

You needn't do this on an everyday basis. Once a week, once every two weeks, or even once a month would still be helpful. The important thing is to keep that list where you see it as a reminder. That old 'out of sight, out of mind' works here. 

I have a lot of stories, essays, and poems in my files that have gone nowhere. You probably do, too. Maybe working on them coud be your first New Year's resolution. A good way to begin 2023. 

Sometimes, those leftovers in the fridge need a little perking up before you serve them again. Add a smidge of this or that, and they can be quite tasty. Doesn't work so well witht the leftover flowers. When they're done, they're done. Your writing, however, can be perked up quite easily. Give it a try.