...that you write a second novel based on your original idea? I have a high fantasy that I'm working on. But when I first started writing it, it was kind of a sci-fi, urban fantasy story, with "aliens" and a different planet. But I didn't have the skill then to really make it work, so I changed it to strictly an urban fantasy. But then after some time, it just made more sense to make it strictly fantasy. But now that I've developed my skill as a writer, I really want to go back and rework the sci-fi/fantasy aspect. Maybe not as a novel, but a novella or short story would work. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do you avoid doing this? I know that sometimes the story grows for the better and going back to a plot that may or may not work could end in disaster.. But I feel I had something to tell with that story and am not quite ready to give up on it. Anyone else?
I have ideas that I feel like I majorly botched and might revisit. Oh, wait. I botched everything. Darn. I applaud you for your hunger to make everything the best it can be. A+
I had to double the length of my story after realising the main antagonist, who was unmasked right at the very end, was defeated far too easily. This encounter became the middle of the story, with the protagonists defeated but determined to return and finish what they'd started.
As a pantser, I often find my story changing drastically as I write it. Some famous writer once said, "The first draft is for finding out what your story's about." My second drafts only bear the most superficial resemblance to my first drafts. I don't write a second story based on my original idea; I change the original story.
I personally like Minstrel's approach—change the original story, after you've discovered what it should have been. However, any method that gets you where you want to go is fine, as far as I'm concerned. We all work differently. It's the end result that matters, not the method you choose to get that result.
After writing my story for about a year and a half I came to the conclusion that I hated my protagonist, yet I loved my antagonist. As a result, I scrapped the former character and instead focused on the antagonist. He shifted to become my protagonist. But now he needed an antagonist - and a new antagonist was created. Now that antagonist has become my protagonist, and the original antagonist has gone back to being an antagonist. If you follow my drift.
I often know the start, one of the main 'big things' and most of the ending. The big journey for me, is all the little detours on the main trip from A to Z. They don't always pan out how I think they are going to but I never know when I'm going to hit a good turn or a bad one.
All the time. Some stories I have had become so broken and dead that all I can do is take the few things from it that I liked and make a new story out of it. Whether it's for the first time, or the tenth-millionth time, I'm always finding out something new about my stories, or the ways I can write my stories.
I started up a political fantasy story that revolved around a build-up to a barebones war between a side with guns and a side with wyverns. It slowly developed into focusing heavily on conquest and a civil war, then I finally thought, maybe guns won't even be a part of the story. It'll be a sword and shield vs barbarian clan with wyverns war that will happen after a long series of conquests and a brutal faction split and civil war. It has changed quite a bit. So, yes. I'd say my stories have changed substantially since my initial ideas.
Oh of course! That's what the writing process is. It's actually how some of the greatest books have come about, as "side" stories or random experiments writers were doing with their style etc. I think it's great you're following the flow too. That's how you really discover yourself as a writer and what you can do. Go for it!
Can't say it's ever happened to me, but it's not dissimilar to what happened with To Kill a Mockingbird, and that's good company to be in!
I'm exceptionally good at coming up with ideas. So, I do a lot of combining or meshing together. Some of the lackluster or empty things I come up with commonly get new things mixed into them so it's not all just a linear experience, there's more to think about, more to keep the reader's attention. So, to answer your question... I guess I do the opposite of that.
This happened to me with my current WIP. I literally broke my first draft in half and am keeping both: one to complete and the other as a seedling for a new series. A terrifying decision to make but I think it will pay off! I totally agree about assessing your skill set and waiting until you improve to tackle a particular idea. Especially if the part you 'saved' feels like it has mileage (or as you beautifully put it, '[has] something to say').
