How to Recycle Your Words - guest post from Annalisa Crawford

Welcome to Monday and to a guest I'm delighted to host on the blog, my good friend and critique partner, Annalisa Crawford. She recently launched her new book, Small Forgotten Moments. Perhaps you've read it or added it on to your TBR list, but what you might not know is it was revived from a much older draft. Annalisa's here to talk a bit about that process and how to make it work. Let's hand it over to her.

I have a skirt in my wardrobe which I’ve had since I was seventeen, and I’m lucky enough that it still fits. I still have my first teddy bear, and the posy of silk flowers I carried at my sister’s wedding are proudly displayed in a vase in my bedroom.

I’m not a hoarder – there are just some things I don’t  want to get rid of. Like words. As with most writers, I’ve kept old notebooks containing scribbled descriptions which were too perfect not to jot down and those random idea which hit you in the queue for the post office; I’ve kept abandoned short stories and completed novels which when I considered submitting were suddenly the worst things I’ve ever written.

But I can’t let them go. Some of those plots or characters clawed themselves back into my head until I had no choice but to resuscitate them. This happened with both my current novel, Small Forgotten Moments, and with Grace & Serenity before that. Both were at least ten years old when I dusted them off and began to figure out what exactly was wrong with them.

Obviously, this process has worked out quite well for me, so here are some tips for resurrecting your old stories.

1.      Figure out why the story didn’t work before, and be completely honest with yourself. Was it the characters, plot, theme, premise, genre, or something else entirely?

2.      Decide what was good about it. Why exactly are you thinking about working on it again?

3.      Be ruthless. Take a black marker pen to a printed out copy or delete words on the screen if they don’t conform to your new vision – subplots, characters, tangents. If they stop you in your tracks, get rid of them (or save them for another project!)

4.      But don’t forget to highlight the really fantastic bits. Those paragraphs or sentences will be the foundations to carry the project forward.

5.      Re-write from scratch. Don’t be tempted to simply edit or add a couple of scenes – your writing style might have changed in the months or years since you last picked it up, technology might have made some plot points obsolete unless you choose to retain the previous time setting, world events may add an additional dimension. Treat your current manuscript as an elaborate plan.

6.      Good luck!

If this has inspired you to take another look at an abandoned project, I’d love to know.

You can read more about Small Forgotten Moments at www.annalisacrawford.com or go direct to my publisher’s website for all purchase options https://bit.ly/small_forgotten_moments

About Annalisa Crawford

Annalisa Crawford lives in Cornwall, UK, with a good supply of moorland and beaches to keep her inspired. She lives with her husband, two sons, and canine writing partner, Artoo. She is the author of four short story collections, and two novels.

The Cure by Patricia Josephine release

I'm helping celebrate the launch of Patricia Josephine's latest outing, The Cure, which looks like another excellent addition to a great collection of work by this author. You should check it out or some of her other books if you haven't already. 

Blurb

Every human in the world becomes a zombie when they die. But Erin refuses to accept the world as it is now. She’s heard about a cure locked away in a lab in Upper Michigan, and she plans on retrieving it. To do so, she needs a zombie. Not just any zombie, though. 

Zee is Erin’s link to the lab. His connection to the living world is her bargaining chip. But only if she can teach him to control his mindless impulses.

Can a zombie be trained? Or will Erin be Zee’s next meal and become a zombie herself? The fate of humanity rests in her hands.

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Excerpt

I rose with the sun. A yawn shook me as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. Before the world ended, I wasn’t a morning person. Most days I woke closer to noon. My job as a freelance writer allowed it. Like an idiot, I took it for granted. Now, if I wanted to get anything done, I had to do it while the sun was up and visibility was good.

Damn, I missed sleeping in.

I dragged my feet as I headed to the deck. Sunlight cast golden rays across the river. Waves lapped gently at the yacht’s side. The air was crisp, and my breath fogged.

I cracked open a bottle of water and took a sip. What I wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee. I used to have a canister of instant coffee, but I ran out three months ago. I was still chastising myself for not rationing it better. Later, I would go to the Soo Locks Park and stock up on supplies. I could barter for more there.

Acquiring coffee had to wait, though. My new friend needed to be checked on.

I scarfed down a breakfast bar before grabbing my shotgun and a backpack and clambered into the raft.

A moan pierced the air as I reached land. I secured the raft and darted to the base. I entered a small reception area. A waist high desk was near the door with a computer sitting on it. A few chairs were set in the center of the room. Notifications hung on a cork bulletin board. Silence hung in the air as if the room was a bubble that somehow escaped the apocalypse. I almost expected to see Coast Guard personnel walk through the door and demand to know what I was doing.

I shook the feeling off and strode to the red cooler under a window. Flies swarmed around it. When I opened it, a sour stench assaulted my nose. I gagged, barely holding down my breakfast, grabbed a dead rat, and slammed the lid shut.

I walked to the tarp, removed a cinder block, and lifted the edge. Snarls greeted me. The zombie clawed at the sides of the earth. Hunger lit its eyes like fireworks. I lifted my shotgun and pointed it at its head. It stilled.

“That’s a good boy.” I lowered onto my knees. “You’ve been dead long enough to develop your basic instincts. How to walk and run. I’ve heard stories of zombies who forgot how to do that.”

The zombie watched me with narrowed eyelids. The color of its eyes had dulled to a muddy brown, and the whites were tinged yellow. Was it trying to figure out how to get out and eat me?

I smirked. “You should know how to hunt by now. Zombies sometimes hunt in packs. You aren’t as mindless as movies made you out to be.” I dangled the dead rat above it.

The zombie snarled, and spit flew from its mouth.

“I bet,” I continued, “it’s the hunger. It’s consumes you, like a vampire’s bloodlust. Well, if those were real.” Thank goodness they weren’t. One supernatural creature had been more than enough to destroy the world.

A surge of bitterness rose up my throat. The skin on my knuckles turned white from how tightly I clutched the rat by the tail.

This could’ve been stopped. Lives and the world could’ve been saved. She might still be here.

About the Author

Patricia never set out to become a writer, and in fact, she never considered it an option during high school and college. She was more of an art and band geek. Some stories are meant to be told, though, and now she can't stop writing.

Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, and has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow.

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IWSG September 2021

It's time for the first Wednesday of the month and time for our monthly meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the aim of the group is to offer a safe space where writers of all kinds can share fears and insecurities without fear of being judged. Today's co-hosts are Rebecca Douglass, T. Powell Coltrin, Natalie Aguirre, Karen Lynn and C. Lee McKenzie.

This month's optional question is: How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?

That's a pretty wide-ranging question. I suppose there are a few ways I could answer. I think anyone who completes a story that tells a tale from beginning to end is a successful writer. It's a lot harder than it might sometimes appear. Another marker might be if it makes an impression on someone else or somehow resonates with them, or they feel an emotional connection with the characters. If you can achieve that with just one reader, I think it's a sign you've done something right.

Any insecurities this month? Well, I'm hoping to make a connection with talent spotters by taking part in my first #PitMad this month. I've done the IWSG Twitter Pitch Party before, so I know it's a highly competitive field, but it's also good fun and an interesting experience. I think I've got my WIP down to a publishable form - just need to perfect that pitch. Anyone else taking part? How's your pitch coming along?

Don't forget to check out other IWSG entries here.