Sometimes you realize that the story/chapter/poem/memoir/article that you’re writing is garbage. Not garbage in the sense that a few line edits might fix, but garbage as in this particular story/chapter/poem/memoir/article would be better if everyone involved just stopped what they were doing and took a nap. One of my stories (one I was particularly fond of) was completely torn apart after I sent it to an established writer for review. When I read this person’s suggestions (verbal beatings) I spent the rest of the day moping and feeling sorry for myself and realized my story was mostly garbage. A whole day later I sat back down, refreshed and determined to create anew and started to work on the story again. Only nothing would come out. The characters were bland, the plot was laughable at best, and all my words came out at a fourth grade level. Then my wife gave me some of the best advice I have been given as a writer to this day. She told me to give up on it (for a little while at least).

It can be difficult to find that fine balance between muscling through a piece and tossing it in a drawer for a few months. You certainly don’t what to toss every story that ever presents problems into the same drawer because no matter the size of your drawer, it won’t be big enough. But a lot of times stories just need time to ferment (or fester if it’s a particularly bad one). Either way, they occasionally need time to develop, as does the writer. Sometimes, you’re just not ready for a piece.

As writers we sling words everywhere on a page and pray that it makes sense, but the reality is that a lot of times all we’ve done is made a mess. But this is a good thing! In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says “we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here—and, by extension, what we’re supposed to be writing.” The story I was writing was, indeed, a mess. So I gave up on it. That story has been untouched for weeks now and will remain so until it has fermented/festered long enough.

Since I’m not Stephen King, I don’t get to write full time and the time I have between work/sleep/school/family to write is very precious. So why waste precious writing time beating your head against a keyboard (or a notepad for you troglodytes) with no direction? Put what you’re working on down, but DON’T STOP WRITING. Giving up on one story does not mean you should throw in the towel completely. I’m simply saying to start something new or just do some writing exercises, anything to clear the air and your head. I’ve heard a lot of writers chopping up old stories then grafting them onto problem pieces. In his wonderful craft book, The Lie That Tells A Truth, John Dufresne says to make time for writing every day and “come hell or highwater, [to] keep that appointment.” He’s 100% right, too. Giving up writing over a problem story will solve nothing. Writing without actually writing is daydreaming and when was the last time Random House published somebody’s daydream?