Thursday, July 5, 2018

Taking Stock of Your Writing


by Victoria M. Johnson

If you piled all your writings together in one place how much room would you need?  A shelf, a closet, or an entire attic?  Think about all your journals filled with your poetry or musings, all your novel manuscripts, and maybe even published books.  How much space do they take?  It may be an eye-opening experience to give it a try. 

Photo by Simson Petrol

I had the opportunity to do this taking stock (by accident) when we moved to a larger home.  I only meant to shelve things so my office wouldn't be cluttered, but by sorting all my writings into a huge closet in my office, I learned a few things.
 

1.  I had written a lot of words.

There was a lot of work stuffed in that closet and I felt a sense of pride that I was doing what writers are supposed to do.  I was producing words, thoughts, and stories.

2.  I submitted a very small percentage of the words I wrote.

I was stunned that I hardly ever submitted most of the work filling that closet.  That is a weakness that I need to fix.  Writers write, but they also submit.

3.  I write in many different forms.

For someone who thought of herself as an aspiring novelist, it surprised me that I had completed more screenplays than novel manuscripts.  Nowadays I'm writing a lot of poetry, too.

4.  I need to purge some of this.

The biggest discovery from this exercise was the amount of paper—old drafts, manuscripts I'll never submit, and other stuff that I don't need anymore—still taking up my space.  The journals I plan to keep forever, I find good material in them.  But stories that I have no intention of revising… those should go, right?  How much of my previous writing do I really need to hang onto?  How do you manage the paper?  Let us know in the comments.  Also, if you do take a picture of your writings, please post it and share the link.

Victoria M. Johnson knew by the time she was ten that she wanted to be a writer.  She loves telling stories and she's happiest when creating new characters and new plots.  Avalon Books and Montlake Romance published Victoria's fiction debut, The Doctor’s Dilemma.  Her other fiction book is a collection of romance short stories titled, The Substitute Bride and a novella, Hot Hawaiian Christmas. She is also the writer and director of four short films and two micro documentaries.   Visit Victoria's website at http://VictoriaMJohnson.com for inspiration and tips and find her Amazon author page or connect with her on Pinterest and Twitter.

9 comments:

  1. Victoria, yep, you are certainly a writer at heart and also in reality. We all have piles of writings we hate to get rid of. Today I try to get as many of my old writings in my computers, but I still have a hard time getting rid of the hard copies. Hurricane Katrina took several of my early finished manuscripts that had not been saved on computers. I learned my lesson. Good luck with your paper space.

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    1. Hi Fran--
      I'm so sorry you lost your early manuscripts to Hurricane Katrina. You are right about getting our words into the computer, something I must do with journal writings that I really like. Thank you for the reminder of your hard lesson.
      Victoria--

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  2. I have the same issue - mine are all in cartons in the attic, but there are a lot of them. For the last ten to fifteen years it's been accumulating on my computer as well. I hate to toss all of it, considering the amount of work it represents, but I do know that a lot of it is just drek, especially the early manuscripts. It's sheer sentimentality that keeps me hanging on to those.

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    1. Hi Karen--
      Thank you for letting me know I'm not alone with hanging onto my work. It is hard to toss out but, like you, I believe at least half of it must be drek.
      Victoria--

      Delete
  3. I know, I know! I moved in March to a bigger house and now I have an 8'x8' writing corner, filled to over-flowing with manuscripts and published books, notebooks and research materials. How often do I write there? Hanging my head in shame!!!

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    2. Hi Leigh--
      Oh yes, research materials! That takes up space, too. No need to feel shame, all that paper is your work over the years. Just move some of it over so you can write in your new space. I wish us both luck in accomplishing this :-)
      Victoria--

      Delete
  4. Love your photo of the manuscripts and notebooks. I too have drafts of short stories, articles and novels I've never submitted or completed. Occasionally I've gone through and thrown some away, particularly hard copies of drafts of published novels, but there is still plenty to throw away. I'd hate to leave it all for my kids to have to go through. I'm thinking you've inspired me to take a look now and see what can be pitched!

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    1. Hi Deborah--
      Wow, you're way ahead of me for already throwing some old papers out. I'm happy to inspire you to see what more can be pitched :-) I agree I'd hate for my children to be stuck going through it. You inspired me to get to it.
      Victoria--

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