Yesterday we talked about the art of being ruthless with our writing.
Today, I want to suggest a purpose for those scraps that it hurts you to cut.
Save ‘em all!
Yup, when I’m writing I often have two documents open. One for my work in progress and the other for the bits and pieces I know I will inevitably have to edit out.
This is awesome for two reasons:
First, because it eases the pain of cutting bits and pieces I love.
Second, it gives me a stock pile of awesome to recycle into future writing.
Nifty, eh?
::
Mandy Scarr
Great idea! I save tidbits too, but not that systematically. Now to figure out what to do with all the stuff I’ve written that’s a bit too gritty or private to actually hit ‘publish’ on….have soooo many drafts in my folder right now…
Mary, momma to many
I do that too! Sometimes it does fit in later, which makes me happy!
love this …
kinda like saving the scraps from sewing and mending and the bits and pieces of long outgrown clothes … and making a beautiful quilt years later.
Yes! Perfect metaphor!
What a great idea, Lisa-Jo! Thanks for sharing! I have a feeling your little trick will become very popular among those of us who follow your blog!
I love this idea. So very much.
Yes! When I generated enough writing to form a book, I also generated enough scraps to form another book. Those tidbits that didn’t fit elsewhere are wonderful to draw upon for different purposes.
Add “teacher” to your many hats, Lisa-Jo. Great writing advice!
Love this! Even if I never use them, I know they’re all safe and sound somewhere…. just in case;-)
I do the same thing. It feels SOOO much better to let go of some of those darlings…although I still need to do a better job of chopping some more out.
I LOVE this idea. This will DEFINITELY help ease the pain of cutting. Look at you, somehow making me not dread the process of editing before me now. Thanks for that!
~Karrilee~
That’s one of the great options I know of. The other is to have topical folders that cover things like love, hope, babies or whatever topics you have and they go into a bigger SCRAPS folder and when you are writing again, or just have writer’s block, you can (after praying, of course) go there and have some recycled inspiration. Very green!
Great idea! I have done this but not always so thanks for the reminder to start saving the scraps. =)
First, peppermint patties in the freezer, and now this amazing idea? You are brilliant. I have truly never thought of this and have always cringed when it came to removing things from my writing, even when I knew they needed to go. Thank you for giving the freedom to cut extra words and a place to keep them for later.
OK, that is just brilliant. I hate it when I need to delete a sentence that I really love because it just doesn’t work. Can’t believe this thought never crossed my mind. Apparently my mind is the road less traveled by great ideas!! You are my Yoda!
I’ve heard you mention this before…I think at Relelvant last year. Just one more reason “Lisa-Jo Baker ROCKS!!!!!”
Mary
http://www.marybonner.net/
YAY!! I do something similar in creating an “unpolished gem file”… I wrote an article about it last Summer… just a helpful PS after your wisdom, dear Lisa Jo!
Yep, pretty nifty, super and swell! And I do that too!