On Monday, we shared an article about the sunk cost fallacy, and knowing when it’s time to put two tears in a bucket and give up. Today, we’re gunning it in the opposite direction, with advice on bringing your dead projects back to life.
In a new blog post, Anne R. Allen says it’s never too late to revive an old project. “Whatever we call it, whatever the circumstances, we all have them,” Allen says. “The trashed. The abandoned. The discarded.”
While some of your early efforts might need to have a stake nailed through their hearts, you might find others have a bit of life in them. Clip the promising parts and save them in a separate file or folder. You might use them later or merely get some inspiration.
If you think the old mss might be worth saving, take the time to apply what you’ve learned in the years since you set it aside. Was your plot weak? Create an outline and find the weak parts. Were your characters missing an arc? Rebuild them from the ground up, with goals, weaknesses, needs, and motivation. “You know the tricks, you know how to use them, and perhaps employing a few will turn the forgotten and abandoned into your next bestseller,” Allen says.
