the backburner

[marycatelli]

Sometimes you put a story on the backburner for a couple days, or a week, or two.  It is flat, stale, and profitable.

(Working on something else in the meantime, of course.  In spite of feeling kinda guilty about ignoring the piece.)

Then you pull it off again, and the story just gushes through the fingers to the keyboard or the pen, like the muse is taking this as a challenge to her abilities.

The real trick is figuring out how long on the backburner is enough, and how to avoid leaving it there forever to die.  Especially since cutting the time short doesn't always work.

Comments

[izuko.livejournal.com]

It's not getting stale; it's fermenting.

[marycatelli]

If only the difference were as clear for writing as for food. . . .