Writing last week, I felt the need to say the same thing I had in an earlier chapter, but in a different way so as not to sound repetitive. I decided to check my “Too Good To Toss” list.

If you don’t have one of these lists, you need to start one. Inevitably you will write something that you just love, but your editor or critique group will say it doesn’t work in your current writing.

Instead of being heartbroken that the world will not get it to read your carefully-crafted sentences, simply copy them into a file you can easily access for future use.

So, I resurrected a short paragraph I had written for a prior publication (but didn’t use) and slipped it into my current document where it worked perfectly.

So don’t trash phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs that you just hate to let go of; instead repurpose something from your Don’t Toss list!

(I also have lists of story ideas, book titles, etc. You never know when they may be useful.)