I'm curious as to peoples opinions on this. If you are writing a short story for example, then after a few thousand words decide it isn't going anywhere, do you abandon it altogether or finish it/develop it just for the experience? Building a solid writing habit is my main goal at the moment, I have set targets for myself but I don't have a work load as such; I am just wondering whether it's worth completing a short story for the practice of editing and re-drafting, or is it better to come up with a fresh idea and start over? (I've written about 2,500 words toward a 8,000 word limit and have decided the story is childish and silly.)
Both, but I don't finish the ones I don't think will be any good for the experience, but rather to see if I might be wrong. I would abandon the story in your example. If it seems childish to you, it will almost certainly seem the same to readers.
I've only abandoned one story so far, a short story. It had no conflict, something I didn't realize until near the end. I never completed it. I might resurrect it in the future, but probably not. Unfinished works are like a plague, in my opinion. That's why I only have 1 unfinished story. Even now, I know the book I'm writing is hot garbage. But, I remind myself that it is just a first draft which is an important point (especially with my writing process). I also remind myself it's my first book so it's going to suck anyway. The most important thing is finish what you start. Don't get lazy. I'd advise you to ditch it, start over. You need the motivation to complete your work and if it's not there, the work won't be very good. If you start ditching every story you begin, though, you may need to take a deeper look into your writing process.
I tend to start stories and part way through realise I don't like where it is going, but I don't like to delete the writing. instead I like to start fresh but bring up the work I didn't like and see my opinion on it after a break from it. a story im writing at the moment im not really liking it so much so ive started a new similar one and will probably take parts for the new one. id say never delete because you will always want to come back to it even if its just to get ideas. but as said before its a first draft, no one gets it perfect first go
Thanks for the reply guys. It's quite frustrating as I am really motivated to write at the moment! It's a science fiction story, which I think sometimes can be difficult not to make childish. I just don't know whether I should persevere and then see if I can fix it with the second draft. The last one I attempted has grown too long and complex for a short story, which is great, but my task for myself is a short story - so I have to complete one!
I am thinking about using some of the ideas and starting over, when you say you will write a similar story and take parts from the previous attempt, would you consider this a rewrite?
I've put aside two projects before completion, both novels that I felt had lost momentum. In both cases, I started impulsively on a story idea without thinking it through and without having a clear idea of where I was going with it. I still have them both, and I may very well go back and pick one up in the future.
well the story im writing at the moment im a few pages in but im not liking the way its coming out, I guess it is a rewrite but only using the general idea of the previous. but in a way ill be using my previous work as more of an inspiration as I want to change allot of main points of the plot. it's always good to keep any work you have done in my opinion because you may want to resurrect it one day, or even just inspiration when it comes to sci fi though I don't see any rules and if the story is good it wont matter if its childish. sci fi comes in many forms, and doesn't have any rules besides the ones you make. like you could have your hero find a new world where trees are made of candy, as long as its written well it will work.
