Over the last few weeks I’ve been plugging away at some older pieces of work, deciding whether to forge on with them or cut them loose.
I had just closed the document of a poem I had been working on after having decided it was not worth pursuing at this time and launched into a quick twitter self-evaluation session.
The conversation I had with myself is below.
Cleared the desk of old projects hanging around. Abandoned some. Others into storage. Time to focus on the new things. And Get Stuff Done.
Come to conclusion some ideas are worth exploring but awareness they are practice, amassing the hours needed to master the craft.
Nothing wrong with that. Some ideas sprout early, look good but produce only weeds. Cut them down, turn them into compost for new ones.
It does seem to contradict “finish what you started” but sometimes the piece will not work no matter how much manure you pour on it.
Commitment to an idea is noble but not at the expense of developing as a writer, artist, creative person. Shelve it. File it. Let it go.
Sometimes ideas just suck. Sometimes they turn into manure. Put it on the compost pile and let it feed new ideas and projects.
Do you ever let something go or do you see it out to the end?
A Fullness in Brevity - Adam Byatt 