YOUR OWN HIDDEN GEMS (YES, YOU GOT 'EM) HOLLY SCHINDLER
I had just released my writing guide for kids (INVENT YOUR OWN SUPERHERO) when I came across this in the archives:
Super Susan is a heroine I created when I was about 8, judging by the handwriting of my initial notebook story. I had long forgotten all about her, but I absolutely fell in love with her all over again. And really, I couldn't come up with anything more timely: a superhero whose power is kindness!
I enjoyed Super Susan so much, I wrote and released a new story all about her--and even incorporated some of my 8-year-old artwork into the cover.
But the thing is, we've all got these gems in the archives. Maybe it's a character, or a passage. Maybe it's a surprise twist. Every single old piece of writing has some gold nugget buried in it.
I just think we get so discouraged with some of our older manuscripts that we start to think of them, at a certain point, as being complete and total junk. Maybe we write ourselves into a corner, or maybe we got a billion rejections for a particular project. But for some reason, we stop seeing this thing that had once given us so much joy as a limitless bucket of potential. Instead, we see it in a completely negative light.
But there are absolutely gems in those manuscripts. Sometimes, it just takes a little time, a little distance, in order to find them.
We've all got drawer manuscripts. Get yours out. Sift through it.
Find your gems.
Super Susan is a heroine I created when I was about 8, judging by the handwriting of my initial notebook story. I had long forgotten all about her, but I absolutely fell in love with her all over again. And really, I couldn't come up with anything more timely: a superhero whose power is kindness!
I enjoyed Super Susan so much, I wrote and released a new story all about her--and even incorporated some of my 8-year-old artwork into the cover.
But the thing is, we've all got these gems in the archives. Maybe it's a character, or a passage. Maybe it's a surprise twist. Every single old piece of writing has some gold nugget buried in it.
I just think we get so discouraged with some of our older manuscripts that we start to think of them, at a certain point, as being complete and total junk. Maybe we write ourselves into a corner, or maybe we got a billion rejections for a particular project. But for some reason, we stop seeing this thing that had once given us so much joy as a limitless bucket of potential. Instead, we see it in a completely negative light.
But there are absolutely gems in those manuscripts. Sometimes, it just takes a little time, a little distance, in order to find them.
We've all got drawer manuscripts. Get yours out. Sift through it.
Find your gems.
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