There are many life situations that involve the concept of what to keep and what to throw away.  Most often it is when you are going through items in your home.  Many times over, it is more prevalent in the creative process.  There are many times where the creator’s efforts are not what they had hoped for and a choice lies before them…keep or toss?  I myself was faced with this choice with this particular piece because I wasn’t happy with the initial result.

Why did I change it completely?  Why did I scrap the original piece and rewrite it?  Something felt wrong to me.  There was a feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that said, “This is not your best.  There is more you can do to make this the piece you want it to be.  Don’t be afraid to reach inside and pull it out.  It’s okay to put these things to paper.”

The more I thought about how this piece had come out the first time, the more I saw, thought and felt that I could write something so much better.  Scott Adams was right.  “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

From Mo’s Desk features are words of wisdom from Muse’s resident content manager.