An Unforeseen Reward of Setting Your Writing Aside

How many times have you heard that you shouldn’t send an email written in the heat of the moment? You should wait at least a few hours, and maybe even sleep on it. After all, the reasoning goes, things will look different in the morning, as though sleeping somehow confers upon you a rational world view that escaped you twelve hours earlier. I haven’t always followed this advice, and the results were at times, well, less than optimal.

While writing fiction doesn’t typically involve impassioned epistles that could get you into trouble, the common wisdom is to set your writing aside for a while, and then come back and check what you’ve written. Writing sites give various reasons for doing this, ranging from letting your brain escape the world you’ve just created so that you can get some perspective, to then magically being able to see all of the editing mistakes you made in your mad rush to let the creative juices flow uninhibited. After all, even Stephen King says he always puts away the first draft of a novel for at least six weeks.

Now, if Stephen King needs six weeks, apparently I thought I needed a lot longer than that, because what I did was to put my novel away for twenty years. This wasn’t actually a decision so much as it was letting something slide for a really, really long time.

In the 1990s, I had quit my job in hospital administration to work on my novel. Back then it was not so clear how one could get one’s book out into the world without going the traditional route, and I worried that the result of all of my work would never see the light of day.

Underlying that, it must be said, was a great deal of self-doubt, something that I’ve come to learn hampers many writers. I eventually told myself that I needed to get back to a “real” job. I got the training required, and happily taught English as a Second Language to adults for thirteen years.

The thing about most advice to let your writing sit for a while, suggests that you will then be able to see what is wrong. You might discover plot holes, inconsistencies, or insufficiently developed characters. You will probably also see the more mundane errors that you often just skim over when reading something you’ve just written, because your brain knows what it should be. Typos, grammar errors, and word repetitions fall into this category.

But what if there is another benefit that is not directly related to the nuts and bolts of writing, but which is nevertheless integral to being able to function as a writer? What if the perspective you gain enables you to see not only the problems with your writing, but also shines a light upon what is good about it? What if setting aside your work can also help you to overcome your self-doubt?

After I retired, one day I got up the courage to look at my manuscript. I found that I could indeed see it with a new perspective. After all, I was twenty years older, so everything looked different!

As I read through what I had written, my initial cautious reaction was This isn’t so bad. I began to enjoy the language, as though someone else had written it. I wondered how the characters could be further developed, and I began to see how the disparate parts of the novel, that at that time all existed in separate Word documents, could in fact be molded into a cohesive whole. This thing that I had started so long ago could be resurrected and completed.

This is not to say that it was easy sailing from then on, but coming at my novel, almost as though someone else had written it, did give me an advantage, which allowed me to see not just the negatives, but also the positives of my work. With less hesitancy to undermine me, I was able to accept that, while not perfect, my work could be improved into something that I could be happy with. Getting mental distance enabled me to see not only what didn’t work, but also what did work.

 Setting aside my writing worked out well for me. My lack of confidence might have led me to just let it fade away on some old technology until it couldn’t even be accessed any more. I’m glad I didn’t, though, because I’ve rediscovered the joy of writing. I have a novel coming out, and I’m researching the next one. I’m sure that I’ll have many ups and downs as I work to bring my new project into the world. I do know that I won’t indulge in such a long hiatus this time, but I will try to gain that curious perspective of looking at someone else’s work, and allowing myself to appreciate the strengths of what I have done.

What about you? Might setting aside your work give you a chance to see it with a new, and perhaps more positive perspective?

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Rebecca D’Harlingue has done graduate work in Spanish literature, worked as a hospital administrator, and taught English as a Second Language to adults from all over the world. She shares her love of story both with preschoolers at a Head Start program and with the members of the book club she has belonged to for decades. D’Harlingue lives in Oakland, California, with her husband, Arthur, where they are fortunate to frequently spend time with their children and grandchildren.

Find out more about her on her website https://rebeccadharlingue.com/

THE LINES BETWEEN

In 1661 Madrid, Ana is still grieving the loss of her husband when her niece, sixteen- year-old Juliana, suddenly vanishes. Ana frantically searches the girl’s room and comes across a diary.

Journeying to southern Spain in the hope of finding her, Ana immerses herself in her niece’s private thoughts. After a futile search in Seville, she comes to Juliana’s final entries, and, discovering the horrifying reason for the girl’s flight, abandons her search.

In 1992 Missouri, in her deceased mother’s home, Rachel finds a packet of letters, and a diary written by a woman named Juliana. Rachel’s reserved mother has never mentioned these items, but Rachel recognizes the names Ana and Juliana: her mother uttered them on her deathbed. She soon becomes immersed in Juliana’s diary, which recounts the young woman’s journey to Mexico City and her life in a convent. As she learns the truth about Juliana’s tragic family history, Rachel seeks to understand her connection to the writings- hoping that in finding those answers, she will somehow heal the wounds caused by her mother’s lifelong reticence.

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Category: How To and Tips