Repeat

I understand that this is something that is virtually unavoidable, especially given the purpose of what I am trying to do with my blog, but I find that I often think that I have a good idea, but look back to find that I've already written it out. And I don't just mean a similar idea, because I check that to be sure. But there are times where I've written out an idea I'm having again to the point that I look at it, and the opening sentence I have in mind is staring me straight in the face. It's not just similar. It's literally the same thing.

It's one thing for me to rewrite a blog post, which I have done a few times, but it is another thing entirely to try and come up with a new idea and find that I have already done it. And most of the time, when that happens, I choose not to do a rewrite on it, though perhaps that would be a wiser decision. Generally, however, I choose to do rewrites on stories that I personally enjoy, and that I would like to see done better. Things that I want to flesh out better, or phrase better, so that they might become something that I can make a fuller, realer story out of. And a lot of the time the repeat thoughts I have don't quite match that feeling.

The hardest part about that is that then it gets stuck in my head. I really can't think of anything else to write about because the one idea is already there, and it just keeps repeating itself ad infinitum. It becomes increasingly harder to come up with something to write, because it just gets increasingly more embedded in my head. And eventually I either find something that completely overpowers it, or more frequently, I write a real talk.

Which, surprisingly, is not why I'm writing this one in particular. I just happened to be thinking about it and wanted to talk about it, because it is in fact a problem that I have. And while I was looking at prompts, trying to come up with something to write today, I kept coming across ones that reminded me of stories that I know for a fact I have written before. And I kinda wanted to write something on them, but I didn't just want to write the same thing over. Probably wanted to write them because I had written them before, in fact.

Perhaps I should reevaluate what I do and don't rewrite. I'm not sure. It's something to think about, especially given that editing is the thing I need the most practice in. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.