Give it up.

You may have noticed recently that my blog got a facelift.

You may also have noticed that it happened shortly after my webpage (www.RaniDivine.com) got a facelift.

What you may not have noticed is that I also updated all the text on my webpage.

And really, it only has slight bearing in what I'm about to say.

If you've read the new About Me section, then you'll know that I recently had to shelf one of my stories. Yes, that's right, it's gone in the vault and I've agreed that I'm never going to look at it ever again.

But how are we supposed to know when a story reaches that point? 

Trouble is, I don't think there is a way to know for sure.

This particular story is one that I've been working on, off and on, for close to a decade (wow, that's weird to say when you're only 23). It's never gotten beyond eighteen chapters, never moved beyond the preliminary "I'm not quite to the editing phase yet" stage, and I've never liked it enough to let anyone read it.

The problem was that this story was my baby. It was my first, the one that I'd tried so hard with from the very beginning.

But I think the very fact that it was my baby was the problem.

I couldn't get beyond the early stages with it, because when I started it I didn't know how to get beyond that. And sometimes with things like this, when we try to pick them up again they somehow convince us to regress into what we used to be.

We can't let that happen.

And that's how I knew that this particular story needed to be shelved.

It wasn't going anywhere.
It took up more time than it should have.
It wanted me to come back in time with it, to the life of a teenager trying her hardest to write cohesively.
It wanted me to be something I no longer am.

If your story has reached that point, I urge you to do what I've done -- to put it on the shelf and say goodbye forever. Who knows, maybe someday you will be strong enough to go back and work on it again, but that is not this day.

Today is a day to write, to grow, and to keep living life in the present.

That's as much for me as it is for you.

[love]

{RD}

p.s. don't forget about my contest! Click Here to see rules and how to enter!Winner gets a signed copy of my new book and two surprise gifts from me!