Simply put, this is a story or plot that never came into being. Somewhere along the way, page one or one hundred, the author set down the pen and never returned.
Now, sad as it is, there are many reasons this might occur. In my own case starting out as a hobby writer, the incentive to go back to a story set on the back-burner due to life events, or lack of inspiration, or plain old loss of interest just wasn’t there. I wasn’t writing for anyone but myself and no one was keeping me on a deadline. Many aspiring authors face this same conundrum.

In many cases, the problem isn’t the story itself. It must be at least somewhat entertaining or otherwise important to the author for him/her to have even started in on it in the first place. Many times, thought, we’re faced with not knowing how to translate the images in our heads into words on the blank pages in front of us. We start writing blindly and soon run into road blocks. These may include, but are not limited to:

I mentioned in my sign-on email about inspiration that often-times the writing mind is just flooded with stories. Some may never see the light of day, others may be orphaned, but I can say with conviction that those stories, like any lost loved one, are never really forgotten. There’s a reason authors refer to their manuscripts as their babies, after all.

When it happens that one of these unforgotten stories finds its way back to the forefront of memory and grabs hold of us again, there’s often a strong pull to see it through into life. Maybe by now circumstances have changed, maybe the writer has gained in skill or his/her daily schedule has opened more free time for writing. Whatever the reason, that old story has seen the opportunity and jumped on it.

I think, no matter what caused the delay in the first place or kept it running once started, every beginning deserves an ending. There’s a wonderful sense of completion and accomplishment that goes along with finishing a manuscript. There’s also a sense of closure, that this work is now well and truly independent and no longer needs the writer’s imagination to stay alive. This is freeing in a sense because it opens the writer up to devote him/herself completely to that fresh new idea that’s been percolating in the background.