Abandoned stories are like
abandoned buildings, filled
with secrets.
We all have them. They’re like old keepsakes, covered in dust, lurking in the attic. They’ve been exiled to a never-visited folder on our computers or a never-opened notebook on our shelves. They’re the stories we’ve abandoned, and it’s time to dust them off and take a second look.
Stories that we’ve left behind are a lot like deserted ghost towns or abandoned houses. A tremendous amount of detail, human thought and effort has been left behind there to decay or to gather dust. Certainly there were things that needed to be left behind, like awkward writing, an impossible premise, or a plot that doesn’t make sense. But there’s so much good left behind along with the bad that it’s definitely worth a trip back into those stories to poke through the ruins, sifting for gold in the rubble.
When you return to an abandoned story, there are two main questions you should be asking yourself as you explore: 1) Can this story be revived? and 2) If this story can’t be revived, what should be salvaged from it? Let’s talk about each one of these questions, and how to answer them for yourself.
Can this story be revived?
When you come back to your abandoned story, don’t start with a condemning attitude. Instead, be generous with yourself. You may have written this story when you were young and foolish, but there are still good things in it. Are the characters well-portrayed? Are there some funny or genuine scenes? An intriguing premise? A good, exciting conclusion? Once you’ve patted yourself on the back for the good, take a critical eye to the bad. Are the interactions between characters childish? Too much overwriting? Poorly thought-out plot? Don’t let your eyes be clouded.
Once you’ve made a careful analysis of the story, make your decision. Is there enough good there to keep the story? Does it just need a polishing, a little dusting off? A new ending? A new beginning? If you think it can be saved, then go for it.
After the jump: what to do if your story can’t be saved.
What Should Be Salvaged?
Sometimes a story is just too flawed to be worth an edit. You might work for ages dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, and still have a fundamentally childish piece. If you’ve analyzed your story and found it wanting, it’s time to become a scavenger. You’re a vulture of your own work now, poking through the ruins. While this story might not be worth it, every story has good elements that can be used for future writing, and there’s no reason to throw those away.
So begin by looking at the characters. Are any of them still intriguing to you? Maybe you were telling the wrong story, but the character has another story you could tell. Next, look at the settings. Maybe you told the wrong story, but that setting — that neighborhood, that house, that country — has other stories you’d like to tell. If that doesn’t work, there’s still the writing. Be a real scavenger and go line by line, picking out well-turned phrases. These can often be only slightly altered and inserted in other stories. When you write a sentence that works, don’t let it get lost! Dust it off and find it a new life in a new story.
As you can see, stories are often hiding more secret resources than you think. Don’t let them get away from you. Instead, keep an explorer’s spirit and be willing to poke through the wreckage of old writing.
I do go back frequently and look at flawed poems (I have a folder for ‘poems, need work’) but can’t remember the last time I went back to an abandoned story. Thanks for the excellent advice on how to approach it. I never considered picking apart the pieces of the story (character, setting, plot, etc) to see if any one of them could be saved.
Looks like I’ll be starting a folder labelled ‘stories: need work’. Thanks again.
to extend this great abandoned building analogy, some stories can’t be rehabilitated and have to be stripped
Thank you for sharing your opinion. I like your idea of not throwing away the story you created. You might be right that there lots of good elements in the story that can be used for future writing like the character and the setting. But the most important thing is the lesson that can be learned in the story. It should be useful for the future generation.
I often wonder if the novel I’m working on can actually become worthwhile in future edits. Though I feel like I know exactly what to change to improve it, I still wonder if the plot itself is really worth the work. I figure if I’m so uncertain, I might as well keep working to see if I come up with something great. Even if I decide to give up on reviving and work on salvaging, there’s much I’ve learned from my efforts at reviving this poor draft.
Thanks for the post!