Yes, I know it’s almost fall. Shhhhh.
My husband and I were going through our guest bedroom earlier today. Said bedroom is one of our stuff-gathering places in the house–you know, one of the places things just get shoved to be out of the way and forgotten about. And we try to not let these places go for too long, because then the stuff becomes overwhelming, and no one wants to touch them, and it just gets worse and worse and worse, and next thing you know you’re on one of those hoarding shows crying because you hadn’t realized things had gotten so bad.
Anyway. Found some interesting things. Costume pieces I haven’t seen in years. Boxes for electronics we got rid of a long time ago. Old computers that we are hoarding for some unknown reason, including one where the motherboard fried before we even moved back to this state. Almost four years ago.
Also, I have a lot of excess fabric from various sewing projects that I should, I don’t know, make a quilt or applique or something with.
But my point for the day is that writers tend to do this hoarding things with their stories too. You know what I mean. Novels and shorts that never got finished, because life or ennui or whatever happened. Old drafts that have since gotten newer drafts. Character sketches or drabbles that you wrote on a whim.
These tend to get strewn through our computers (or notebooks)–a few here, a few there. Some on this computer. New versions on the flashdrive.
And, sometimes, it’s a good idea to gather everything up, to look over everything, and to organize it. To make sure all the most recent versions are in one place. To have a folder with ALL your short stories in it. To archive older stories that never got finished, to be returned to one day, or to be occasionally read to see how far you’ve come, or to remember different times.
It will take some time. But when you’re done, you’ll feel like you really accomplished something, and everything will be in its place, for when you need it in the future.
