Monday
[Editor's Note: FlashFiction.Net will be publishing tips from Tasha Cotter, one every Monday, for twenty weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4.]
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My goal for this series of blog posts is for writers to save themselves a lot of time and frustration. This series is meant to get you on the path toward publication, provided you put in the work of writing and revising. Don't worry if you don't follow all these recommendations--who could? I'll be the first to admit that even I'm guilty of sometimes not using my time wisely--look for my tip on social media! But overall this series contains hard-won truths on how to make writing a bigger part of your life. I hope it clarifies the publishing guidelines, professional etiquette, and protocols you may have been unsure about in the past. More than anything, I hope it puts you on track toward opportunities you may not have imagined.
—Tasha
Twitter: @TashCotter
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Tip #5
Revisit Old Work
Perhaps one of the greatest things any aspiring writer can do is read widely. But it's also important to revisit old work. And I'm not talking about work you're already satisfied with--I'm talking about those stray poems and short stories--maybe even novels that ran aground--that you never completed.
I have found that doing this helps me reimagine the work at hand. Sometimes I may take a line from a poem and use it somewhere else. What you're looking for are those moments that seem to still have a beating heart. Maybe it's a description that seems particularly memorable, or a line-break in a poem that you absolutely love. Whatever it is, the more you read the sharper your taste becomes. Over time you begin to have an instinctive knowledge of what's worth keeping and what really seems to be going nowhere.
Do I throw away work I know will never be published? Usually, no. It's all sitting there on my computer. I may make notes to myself to revisit a poem that I'm still not happy with. Nowadays, I only devote time toward projects I'm really serious about. If I have an idea for a novel I create a folder on my computer and begin putting notes for the novel in that folder, as well as images that seem to evoke a setting I'm drawn to, or a character. If I'm eighty percent happy with a new poem, then I'll work to make it as good as I can. In general I'm not much for writing exercises--I like to tackle projects head on, because I don't have a lot of time to waste. Revisiting old work has the added benefit of allowing you to see the work in progress in a new light. That added perspective can be just the cure for whatever it was that prevented you from completing old work in the first place.
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Tasha Cotter, @TashCotter, is a poet and fiction writer based in Lexington, Kentucky. She is the author of two chapbooks of poetry and the full-length collection, Some Churches (Gold Wake Press, 2013). You can find her online at www.tashacotter.com.
