.jpg)
Are you sitting in front of your keyboard (or writing notebook) wondering if you have anything more to write? Anything to say that hasn't been said countless times before . . . by you and others? Anything that will truly encourage, entertain, or educate your readers?
Most of us have been there. Possibly, multiple times.
But as this month's theme indicates, there are three Rs that can help us address these issues: reuse, rethink, and recycle.
Our own words can serve as a springboard for new ideas.
And those new ideas?
A new platform on which to republish our work with little to no changes. And don't be afraid to repost the same piece weeks, months, or years later on the same platform. The algorithms are always changing, and you never know who may be seeing it for the first time or who may need to read it again.
An expanded work with updated info.
A social media post or blog post that inspires a short story, a novella, even a full-length manuscript.
An old manuscript we've tucked away that we might want to revisit. You know the ones, those sitting in a drawer or on our computers gathering dust.
Our Discarded Sentences, Paragraphs, and More file. (You do have one of these, don't you? Sometimes, a line or paragraph doesn't work in our WIP, but that doesn't mean it won't find a home in a future work.)
And speaking of deleting our work . . .
Instead of deleting an old post, why not compare and contrast our thoughts from days gone by with those we have now?
And what about those journals we've squirreled away? Those words that were for no one's eyes but our own? Maybe it's time to pick up one of those journals and see if one or more of the entries inspires a new piece that you do want to share with the world?
There are several R words that apply to our writing: reuse, rethink, recycle, revisit, revise, reshare, etc., etc., etc. Let's give it a try today!
I'd love to know how you've reused, rethought, and recycled your writing. Feel free to leave a comment below or email me at stephbethnickel@gmail.com
Steph Beth Nickel is the former Editor of FellowScript and the current InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is an editor and author and plans to relocate to Saskatchewan from Ontario to be close to family in 2026. (Headshot Photo Credit: Jaime Mellor Photography)
Steph Beth, this is a wonderful post and I can already see myself using some of your suggestions, like reposting my work from one platform to the other. And I do not have a discard file for my work. Perhaps I should begin one as I'm in the process of deleting large chunks from my current WIP. Thank you for so many practical suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI loved your post, and my mind is already mulling a few ideas you mentioned: repost one's work on a different platform; dip into old journals for writing ideas; and compare how you thought of things in the past to how you see them in hindsight.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't have a 'formal' discard file where I can dump old drafts and rejected paragraphs and ideas from current WIPs. I'm going to open one right now.
So, Steph, I'm now stocked up on ideas, thanks to you!
What a wonderful blog!
ReplyDeleteI’ve written a humour column in a newspaper for years and there have been countless times when I’ve heard myself say, “I’m all funnied out.” Thankfully, God has always afforded me an incident that inspires a chuckle or two before my deadline. However, I’ve used older articles, and journal entries, to repurpose for speaking.
Oh my goodness, Steph! What an abundance of ideas and insight. Thanks very much for spurring us on. Going to open some of my dust covered files and see if I can find some treasure.
ReplyDelete