Monday, May 12, 2008

Starting Over

I just threw out my journal with a large chunk of started stories. I decided it was time. Some of those stories are six years old, some of them are only six months old, but it was time. I've spent so long jotting down bits and pieces that there was really no hope of going back through them all and resurrecting long dead plots and characters. I finally admitted that they were all false starts and what I really needed was to let them die and move on. I've almost thrown it out several times but never did because of that nagging feeling of 'maybe one day'.

It reminds me of the day we helped clean up Paul's basement after it flooded. I have a dim memory of him standing in his garage looking around as we brought in one soaked and ruined possession after another. I felt sorry for him because the water damage was pretty substantial. I forget exactly what he said but it was something to the extent of, "it's amazing all the things we keep and store because we think we need them but really, when they're ruined, we find out we don't. I keep looking at this stuff and being amazed that nothing really important was ruined."

So I've voluntarily thrown out my half stories. They're not important, I just keep them and move them around with me because I think I need them, they make me feel like I'm productive even though they don't really prove that.

3 comments:

paul said...

well, it's done... so talking about whether it was wise or not is a non-issue, right? :)

Jenlyn said...

Right, but I figured it's been around so long I might as well give it a tomb stone :P

Rabbit-tracking Husband said...

My two cents worth; I think it was a good thing to do. You do tend to have....false starts? with your stories, often just moderate to subtle variations on characters already done in other started-but-never-finished stories; so I think I could say with confidence that the one's that are important to you will find their way back to you.