Cannibalism, or What to do With that Novel (Story, Novella) Hidden Away in a Box

Now that I’ve crushed all your hopes and dreams about your first novel and you have given it up completely and taken to drinking that old bottle of St. Remy brandy that has been sitting around the house for at least four years…there is one thing I forgot to mention. First novels are a gold mine for future writing.

Think of yourself as a circling vulture. That scene that you worked on every day for three weeks and you loved and thought had to die along with the rest of the novel-you’d be surprised how easily it lifts and transplants into a new story, a second novel. Or that one fabulous character from your first novel that everyone loved, that one character that had some real pizzazz…well, by all means, steal it!

If you are too attached to your stories exactly as written, then you might not see the future wealth that could be unearthed if you could just dig away at your old expectations. Not only does this excavating produce wonderful characters and scenes in future work, but sometimes you can salvage a complete short story, even a novella from what might have seemed like airplane wreckage.

So if you’re one of those people with a novel lying around—particularly if it’s been awhile since you’ve thought about it—dare to crack it open again. It may be a bit like rereading your college essays; you may cringe a little, but you may also say, “hey, that part wasn’t too bad.” Take it. Use it in something new.

You just may find that your favorite scene or character clicks in its new surroundings better then it ever did in the box. And nothing is sweeter then feasting on the fruits of your own labor—no matter how long has passed.