In an effort to declutter my life and only keep things that give me joy (what a novel idea, Marie Kondo!), I spent a few hours purging my shelves, donating books and browsing through old notebooks filled with old stories and ideas.

Some of them were five years old. Cue the terror and nerves. To my shock (you know writers are dramatic), some of my stories were good and I’ll revisit them at some point, and others were like that hot and heavy situationship I had with this Dominican hottie who kissed like he invented it—it was sweet, satisfying but it went nowhere fast. 

Yes, sadly some romances and stories, poems, scripts and books aren’t meant to be. Did we learn nothing from Bey when she sang:

“You turned out to be the best thing I never had.”?

Anyway, sometimes you have to break up with him, her, they and yes, the story. And depending on who you are, breaking up with the story may be harder than telling bae of two years that it’s quits via text.

Not sure if it’s time to break up with your story? Allow me to share four signs (in the video above) that it’s time to say it’s over. (Heads up, FB was quite disrespectful and cut this video off at the very end. I’ll get them back somehow, some day.) 

Annnnnd…

Don’t forget to join the Facebook scribe tribe for free classes! LIKE Yeah Write With Taiia Smart Young and turn on the notifications button, so you don’t miss me when I pop up with a LIVE stream. 

Reading is super sexy, so check out:

Reading is SoulCycle For Your Brain
Should You Write for Free? (Congratulations. You Played Yo’ Self.)