Scrapped

A few months ago, when I was reading the preface to Stephen King's latest novel, Under the Dome, I noted that this was a book that King had started years earlier and then set aside. Essentially he had scrapped it. Somehow, he redeemed it from the trash and rewrote it.

There is an important lesson here. Many writing projects hit a dead end or don't materialize. Some books get sidelined when more powerful ideas emerge or when other deadlines loom.

Like most writers, I have mountains of material in various stages of dress and undress. I have projects that I started years ago that still interest me. I have new pieces of writing that start off like gangbusters but then peter out. The wisdom a writer needs is knowing when to sit a project aside, when to keep at it, and when the scrap others or even burn them (press the delete key!). It's a dicey game, but one worth learning.

Not long ago my wife asked me about a story that I had written years ago. I couldn't remember the story at all. I asked her to describe it. The title, even, eluded me. It was a lost cause. Somewhere among the boxes of floppy disks and stacks of manuscripts, the story had become scrap.

Could it be redeemed? Possibly. But I'd have to find it first.

I'm at that stage of life where I can no longer remember my own name. I often call out to my son using the dog's name. My daughter is "that girl at Ball State." My wife is a woman I sleep with (on a good day). And come to think of it, we might even have a cat. I don't think my son is the one using the litter box.