I got a lesson in humility over the weekend. I had this idea for a writing project - really, it was to update and revamp a book I wrote years ago, but never sought publication for. It seemed like a good idea, and even though I'm not anywhere near done with Move yet, I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to dig it up, take a look at it, and start planning how I'm going to tackle this project. My reasoning was that I could start to develop a plan for this book now, so I'll be ready to start on it when Move is done. So I opened up the file and took a look at it, ready to start brainstorming how to rework it. And it didn't take long for reality to hit me - it hit within the first few words I read.
This piece sucked. No wonder I shelved it. It's awful! In fact, it took me about 5 minutes to determine that this piece was unsalvagable. The only thing that kept me from sentencing that raw piece of garbage to the "delete" key was the hope that perhaps, maybe, there's a remote possibility that there might be some sliver of something useful in there that I can extract from that jumble of madness and make fit somewhere else.
Who knows, but this I do know - my early work sucked. No wonder my inspirational work never took off - it was AWFUL! I cringe when I think of how much of that I sent out for consideration. And some of it got published - even my first book. Oh Lord help me. My consolation there is that some people do prefer non-fiction and inspirational, and perhaps those awkward first steps into writing will speak to someone and convince them to give the rest of my writing a chance. You never know.
This doesn't mean I'm giving up on non-fiction. I realized that some of my rewrite/revamp ideas might be a good catalyst for a new work, and I'm going to explore that. It's just going to take a bit more planning (and time) to get this going.
In the meantime, I had another idea for a short book for bird owners, and that idea has been growing since I chucked the rewrite my horrors of yesteryear idea. I think that might be the next thing on my list instead so now I'm brainstorming for the birds - literally.
That's all for today. Here's hoping you don't find any writing (or other artistic endeavors) from you past that you feel like bludgeoning to death. Havce a great week.
Bye!
This piece sucked. No wonder I shelved it. It's awful! In fact, it took me about 5 minutes to determine that this piece was unsalvagable. The only thing that kept me from sentencing that raw piece of garbage to the "delete" key was the hope that perhaps, maybe, there's a remote possibility that there might be some sliver of something useful in there that I can extract from that jumble of madness and make fit somewhere else.
Who knows, but this I do know - my early work sucked. No wonder my inspirational work never took off - it was AWFUL! I cringe when I think of how much of that I sent out for consideration. And some of it got published - even my first book. Oh Lord help me. My consolation there is that some people do prefer non-fiction and inspirational, and perhaps those awkward first steps into writing will speak to someone and convince them to give the rest of my writing a chance. You never know.
This doesn't mean I'm giving up on non-fiction. I realized that some of my rewrite/revamp ideas might be a good catalyst for a new work, and I'm going to explore that. It's just going to take a bit more planning (and time) to get this going.
In the meantime, I had another idea for a short book for bird owners, and that idea has been growing since I chucked the rewrite my horrors of yesteryear idea. I think that might be the next thing on my list instead so now I'm brainstorming for the birds - literally.
That's all for today. Here's hoping you don't find any writing (or other artistic endeavors) from you past that you feel like bludgeoning to death. Havce a great week.
Bye!
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