writing prompt

You’ve likely heard that manuscripts need to simmer. Simmering should likely be more than an hour and less than six years. 

You’ve likely also heard that you should stop dragging around a dead cow, or dead horse, or dead anything – referring to a manuscript that has been to every critique group, conference, and workshop with you for YEARS — but you do very little to revise it — so your crit. mates have seen the SAME THING countless times. The key here is the lack of change/revision. Dead manuscripts are dead because the author lacks the willingness or the ability to make intentional, impactful revision. (This means that you did a lot more than just fixing that wrong word or comma issue.)

But just because you have finally called time of death on a manuscript and put it away – doesn’t mean it’s dead to you forever. OH NO. This is where the magic of necromancy comes into play. 

Manuscripts might become stagnant, but writers do not. We keep growing. We hear the same advice over and over and slowlly, but surely, the advice begins to errode our dense grey matter. One day we sit down to write and suddenly (as if by divine grace or dark magic) we understand a concept that we didn’t before — and more than that — we see how it applies to our own work.

This has happened to me – with a resulting sale. I went to a conference. Heard some brilliant person talking about looking through the files for old manuscripts that might still have a bit of life left in them. Looked back at least four or five years into the Dead Files — and brought one up that I had worked and worked and worked to death. 

And this time – I looked at it – and immediatley saw my mistake. It was all in the pattern. And it was so obvious. I sat down and revised it. Sent it off to my agent – long story short – it sold. It will be out in the world in 2021 — and once I have real dates, I’ll share more about that one.

But it just goes to show – sometimes we need to put manuscripts away for years. This is not simmering. This is death. But death is not final.

Today’s Challenge: Put that manuscript that you are not revising, but still holding onto, some where far, far away. Set a reminder for January 13, 2024 – to find it and resurrect it. (Of course, you can resurrect it earlier if you hear it calling you — but wait at least six months — you’ll be amazed at what you see with fresh, knowledgeable eyes.)