"Writing is 5% talent and 95% persistence," -Unknown
One upon a sixth-grade Olivia, I wrote a Hunger Games fanfiction. And, quite frankly, it was gold. It was feels-y and well written (by sixth-grade Olivia’s standards) and so much fun.
But then, I deleted it. I must have had a brain aneurysm, because I hit ctrl+a and then backspace for some stupid reason. And since then I’ve been searching and searching for this fanfiction, and I was wanting to find it because it had a scene in there that I wanted to study and reread. However, I remembered that I DELETED IT. Gone forever.
And I narrate this sad little tale to you all because, writers: I beg of you, DO NOT DELETE YOUR WRITING. Because sometimes you’ll want to go back and read it. And enjoy it all over again, just as much as when you wrote it.
I know because I recently went back and reread significant sections of my first novel.
Believe me, 90% of it will be crap. You’ll cringe over your poor word choice and unclear sentences. You’ll shake your head at the stupid decisions your characters make. And, ultimately, you’ll think “holy chocolate chip cookie dough, what the frick frack, crack-a-lack, h-e-double-hockey-sticks was I thinking when I wrote this?” And you’ll feel like a shitty writer for a hot minute.
But then, you’ll realize that you feel this way because you’ve improved. You begin looking at your writing with a critical eye, seeing ways you can improve it, which is good!
But the best part is when you find those little gold nuggets in a sea of pyrite. Those scenes where the characters are brilliant and three dimensional, those scenes where the scene moves and climaxes beautifully, those scenes where the villain is pure evil, where the emotions connect, where the writing is eloquent and effective.
But the best part is when you find those little gold nuggets in a sea of pyrite. Those scenes where the characters are brilliant and three dimensional, those scenes where the scene moves and climaxes beautifully, those scenes where the villain is pure evil, where the emotions connect, where the writing is eloquent and effective.
And that. That is where you appreciate your characters, your stories, and how far you’ve come. And it gives you a reason to keep going.
So, my dear writer friends, NEVER DELETE YOUR WRITING. Because when you read it later, you never know what great things might come out of it.
~The WordShaker
I never delete my writing. You never know when you can recycle an old idea! Good idea for a post. ^ ^
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