|
|
Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 40
|
Finish the book or not? Revise it once, twice, three times? Set it aside for how long? If you're still not happy with it, at what point is an idea (or a novel) just not worth the effort any more? Just curious about everyone's threshold of pain.
|
|
Joined: 4/6/2011
Posts: 29
|
Ooooh, what a question. I don't think there is any hard and fast rule, but I am thinking that I need to set myself a limit of three revisions.
It's just been a couple of years since I decided to try to take this writing thing seriously. Before that, I had written a fantasy novel--the first draft many years ago. I had been noodling with it intermittently ever since, shining up a bit here, a bit there, rewriting a section. A couple of years ago, I finally found some other writers, got it critiqued, and did a full-bore revision to fix (I hope) some plot issues, and then a polishing run to tighten up my prose.
Starting this year, I have been querying agents with it. I have had no luck so far, but I have made a promise to myself that I am not going to spend the rest of my life rewriting that book. If no one wants it as is, it goes away now so I can do something else.
I think that the book is probably where it would have been if I had done three decent revisions on it, so that's where I'm going to set my limit for future projects. If I can't get it close to right in three tries, I think it will be time to cut my losses.
|
|
Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 13
|
I'd say that if you hit the point where you don't think there's anything else you can do with it, it's time to move on to the next project.
You can always come back to it later. And who knows? After some more writing practice and experience, you might look at it with fresh eyes and see something you hadn't seen before...time helps with that, too.
For me, it's not necessarily about a certain number of revisions or drafts, it's about whether you're going blind on it, or if it just isn't a project that has the ability to do what you want it to do. That's a little more nebulous.
It's gotta be different for everyone, but just remember that putting it in a drawer doesn't mean you're burning it in effigy. Moving on to the next project might clear the cobwebs enough to go back to the first one later.
|
|
Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 25
|
I spent at least 3 years each revising, and eventually totally rewriting, my first two novels. I found myself getting to the point with each where the story was so muddy in my mind that I couldn't see it straight anymore.
I finally got to a point with Novel 2 where I realized that even if I could manage to resuscitate it, it was hindering my progress as a writer to get hung up on this one work. A better use of my time would be to study, read, and produce new works in order to hone my craft. I wasn't honing anything by treading the same ground over and over.
I now think about it like this: I'm an apprentice to the art of writing, and like any apprentice, I can't expect my first works to be masterful. I like to think that my current novel is The One, but I'm also willing to recognize that I've learned a ton already about the writing process, and if I have to write three more novels before I get the hang of it, then that's what I'll do.
Letting go of both my first novels was *excruciating.* With Novel 2, especially, I went through almost two months of depression and self-doubt. I thought I would never write again. I couldn't see my characters, I couldn't imagine dialogue. I thought it was all gone for good.
But then I met a new character, and I got caught up in a new adventure, and now I don't have enough hours in the day to put her story down on paper.
So I guess my short answer is this: do what's best for your development as a writer. And if you have to sacrifice a story you're attached to, then do it. You can always cannibalize it for future stories.
|
|
Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 25
|
Usually I can tell pretty fast if a project is just not going to work out the way I want it to. I hate giving up on a story, but sometimes it's the best thing to do. At the very least, I'll put it aside for a while and work on something else. Sometimes I'll realize what wasn't working months after I've set the project aside. If you're really not sure what to do, you can always send it to a friend and ask their advice.
|
|
|
|
I'm a big proponent of just going with your gut. You'll know when a story is ready (or close enough to ready to take off the training wheels and ask someone else to help you figure it out). You'll also know when a story just isn't meant to either be completed, or to be shared. I have a lot of pieces that I've never shown anyone and never intend. Whether it's because the writing isn't up to snuff or because the story isn't congealing the way I want it to, I know that those pieces are what they are and that's okay.
If you aren't sure though and you're struggling with deciding if it's time to move away from a certain piece, it's likely not worth giving up yet. But it IS worth putting down temporarily, letting yourself get a clear head, maybe throwing yourself into a new project to refresh yourself and cleanse. Then you can always go back to it when you're ready. Sometimes you need a little distance to know how to fix something or to know what it needs.
To add a little personal anecdote here, I have a YA novel that I've been working on, oh, since I was 16 LOL It's sad, really. But when I stopped writing, it was what was right for me. And each moment that I wrote and stopped, wrote and stopped, was what I needed. Now, I'm trying to tackle it again, knowing I want to finish it, even if it's awful, even if I decide never to do anything with it. It's also easier to work on now because with the distance I took from it, I figured out what was holding me back from telling the story--it has two parallel story structures that intertwine and one was told in first person the other in third. It finally hit me that the reason I wasn't connection to one of the sections was the 3rd person POV. I needed to knock down that wall and start over with that part from a new perspective. I never would've figured that out if I hadn't allowed myself to put it away for a while. A looooong while LOL
|
|
Joined: 3/3/2011
Posts: 21
|
I always have so many ideas that are jogging through my mind, that when I finish one story, I start writing the next one. While writing the next one, I let the old one simmer and then go back and start doing some revising while I am writing the new one. Usually I get to the point where I am ready for someone else to read it, and then keep writing the new one.
When the first one is "done" I am usually finished with 1st draft of the other one, then put it away and start working on the other one .
It's just a constant juggle, that way I never get bogged down on any one project.
|
|
Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 80
|
My first novel sat, unedited, for 3 yrs before I went back to edit and revise. My problem is I start off with a bang and things slow down and I get stuck. Another idea will come along and I'll get excited and start that and leave something unfinished. I find it helps me to let it sit. I'll go back, re-read it all and get excited all over again to finish it up. I think if I were the type to outline everything, that wouldn't happen as often, but if I don't know a definite ending, I have to wait until it comes to me.
|
|
Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 244
|
It's a hard choice. I find myself frequently going back to the stories I've abandoned, mostly just in thought though, and thinking about them, wondering if I shouldn't attempt to save the project.
Probably one reason why there are so many unfinished manuscripts on my hard drive.
I'm with MB though. You get that shiny new idea (SNI) and you just jump on it, abandoning everything else. What sticks is what gets finished.
|
|
Joined: 3/4/2011
Posts: 58
|
I have not abandoned a manuscript since college, and that was a VERY long time ago. I'm not saying that everything I've written since is publishable. Far from it. However, I firmly believe the act of FINISHING each novel is vital to my growth as a writer.
There's a lot a writer can work on throughout the beginning of a draft--setting, tone, character, voice, dialogue--but middles and ends have to be completed in order to improve on pacing, story arcs, conflict/relationship development/resolution.
Some of my earlier projects have been "forced" to completion, certainly aren't my best work, and will never see an agent or editor's desk, but I've learned a lot from them.
|
|
|
|