My parents were editors at a major metropolitan newspaper, and my dad often quoted his managing editor, who fulfilled all ’50s and ’60s movie newsroom stereotypes—puffing on a cigar, shouting across the newsroom. When this editor realized one of his reporters had been scooped by a competing newspaper, he shouted for all the newsroom to hear:
“Never, never, never sit on a story!”
My mom has a similar line. She was the editor of a county newspaper, and one time one of her reporters blew it on a story, and my mom told this reporter, “Napoleon said you can do anything with a bayonet except sit on it. The same goes for a story.”
Don’t Be Scooped
Though I’ve not been in the newspaper business other than writing the occasional feature story, I’ve seen this in my writing life. I’ve learned this lesson. “Never, never, never sit on a story!”
And that’s what I’m here to tell you today.
The times I’ve done nothing more than toy with a story, talking about it with friends and family, tossing it around like I’ve got all the time in the world to develop it, someone else goes ahead and writes it.
Seriously. It’s happened to me multiple times with both articles and books. Every once in a long, long while, I’ve been scooped by someone I’m remotely connected to, a friend of a friend of a friend.
Most of the time, the person who writes that story, book, or article that I’d been thinking about doesn’t know me at all and would have no idea that I’d been toying around with it or dreaming of it. They simply had the same idea, and instead of sitting on it like I’d been doing, they took action.
Write the Idea Given to You
If you’ve got an idea in you, don’t sit on it. Don’t just think about it or chat about it with friends and family.
Do something today to make it a reality.
Open a Scrivener file and give this article, essay, poem, or book a working title. Write a synopsis. Write a list of ideas for the content. Get the story line down. Do some initial research for it. Write those notes into a usable form to have something to build on, and the next day do the same thing.
Don’t just do a little bit and stop. That, too, would be sitting on a story. Keep making progress toward finishing.
Don’t let somebody scoop you. That idea was given to you. And you will create it for readers, so it’s for them, too. The sooner it’s out there, the sooner the reader can benefit.
Sitting on a Story Due to Fear
Some people may let fear keep them from taking action. Fear makes us play it safe. Fear may be what causes us to just sit there and do nothing.
I mentioned this to my mom. “If you haven’t done anything,” she said, “at least you haven’t failed.” If you never send a story in, you don’t get a rejection letter and then you haven’t been rejected. But that’s no way to live the writing life.
Don’t let rejection cause you to sit on a story. Don’t fear rejection. Write the story.
You might think you have all the time in the world to develop it—and you do need some time for an idea to develop—but I urge you to get started. Be bold. Reject rejection.
The idea will develop faster if you start doing the work, so take action. Get that idea in motion. Develop it. Finish it.
It might be hard and challenging at times, it’s going to feel risky—but you will have made it a reality.
Never, never, never sit on a story.
When it’s done, you’ll be so glad.
So will your readers.
Ideas from this episode:
- Never sit on a story or someone may scoop you.
- Take action today…and tomorrow.
- Don’t just do a little and stop. That, too, is sitting on a story.
- Fear of failure—fear of rejection—keeps some people from taking action.
- Reject rejection and write the story.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Reviewer Leanne Sowul’s website
- Writing Fears and How to Overcome Them: Feeling Not Good Enough
- Write to Discover the Courage You Need to Confront Your Fears
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I’ll listen to the podcast later today, but you inspired me with these words:
“If you’ve got an idea in you, don’t sit on it. Don’t just think about it or chat about it with friends and family.
Do something today to make it a reality.”
It’s not that someone else will tell the story, but only I can tell it and if I don’t no one else well, since it’s mine. And no one knows how long they have to tell the story.
Carol, you were wise to act on the nudge to write down your story–you refused to sit on it, and chose to take concrete steps toward making it a reality. You’re right: no one else will write your particular story, but the unexpected in life can result in the story never being told…so wise. You inspire!
EXCELLENT encouragement! Loved this, Ann! Need to keep moving forward, even when my tools have a date with the Genius Bar at Apple. There’s still pen and paper.
Marilyn, I’m so glad you are going to make progress with pen and paper, impressed you’re not letting lack of technology hold you back. (Sorry about the computer issues, though! Hope those geniuses get you fixed up quickly so you’re back at the keyboard fast!).
Funny, this is what my daughter was saying to me this morning. She said that even if you aren’t ready to do something with the story publishing-wise, write it down. I had asked her a question about what she would do with a dream deferred, and I guess that to her the writing of each story is a dream of its own. “Keep it safe and sound,” she said. “Write it down.”
Poetry and wisdom in those last lines! She takes after her mother! 🙂