Before we hit record during a recent PraiseWriters interview, Dr. Michel Therrien shared that one of his books, The Catholic Faith Explained, came about in an unconventional way. 

The content of the book was originally part of a different project, he said, one that was about to be abandoned by the publisher. Hours upon hours of work and research were on the line. Dr. Therrien proposed, to Sophia Institute Press’ relief, that they turn it into a book. Thousands of copies later, it was clearly the best use of valuable material that had been in danger of finding itself in an intellectual graveyard.

His story is large-scale example of something I often tell writers: save your scraps.

God doesn’t waste anything in his creation, especially his most magnificent creation: our lives. Made in his image, we too can usually find a purpose for our creative work, even if it looks different than what we originally intended.  

Most often, this happens during the editing process.  Good writing requires the careful and deliberate curating of our work: whatever doesn’t move the story, article, or chapter forward must be left behind. Better work is usually shorter, not longer–conciseness is essential to good writing, and perhaps more necessary now than ever in an age of digital distractions. To keep our reader’s attention we need to ruthlessly eliminate all extra words.  

But that can mean that some of our favorite stories, phrases, and research can find itself on the chopping block. It is a painful thing to see important, lovely things sacrificed. Still, we know we need to do it. Creative minimalism is key to clarity. 

But don’t let those scraps be tossed!  Before you hit delete, consider saving your work and re-using it later.  You’ll be glad you did.

One of our PraiseWriters members found herself forced to cut part of her Cloud of Witnesses’ chapter. We were all on a strict word-count budget for the large collaborative project, and Margaret had more to write about St. Monica than would fit in a mere 2000 words. But she remembered that I had suggested that anything edited out be tucked away for future purposes – especially purposes that would actually serve to point people to the book itself.

So she pitched an article on St. Monica and gossip to the National Catholic Register and it was published, allowing her to share that additional perspective and find new readers at the same time.  In fact, a Communications Director from a midwest diocese read the article and reached out to ask Margaret if it could be shared in their diocescan paper.  Now that’s God multiplying our scraps in marvelous ways!

A few tips to help writers put this into practice:

1. Find a system that works for you to keep track of fragments, whether it be ideas, bits of research, cut-out content, or a story you are not sure how to use yet. I like Evernote because it works like my brain, but even a Google doc or notebook are fine–anything to turn your “scrap-heap” into a usable, searchable personal “library”.  Whatever you choose, just make sure to name and tag things in a way that allows you to find them later. 
   
   
2. All writers will sometimes be tempted to abandon a piece that doesn’t quite work. See it as a draft, not something to be discarded. When you come back to it, more often than not, you can salvage the clever metaphor, pithy quote, or compelling opening line and turn the whole thing into something new. Sometimes, you just needed to let it rest so that you could discover the missing story or point-of-view that would add context or make it complete. 
   
   
3. Train yourself to start each project by rummaging through what you’ve saved. Just as you wouldn’t head out to the store without checking to see what’s already on the shelf or in the closet, begin by evaluating your inventory of words.  I know I tend to forget how “good” some of my saved stuff really is!
     
4. A periodic leisurely review can inspire fresh content and help us to remember what we’ve got in our storehouses. Schedule in time, when you aren’t looking for anything in particular, just to browse your “library”!
   
   

Your most valuable writing might actually be your unpublished work. One project might turn into another…and another. In Revelation 21:5, God reveals that he “makes all things new” not that he makes “all new things.” We can be like our Creator and with our “12 baskets left over” (Matt 14:20) feed our creativity just with the content on the cutting-room floor.