It's annoying and infuriating to be in a situation like the one I'm forcing myself to suffer these days. It's a very long story, but I'll make short and say that I started a novel that reached chapter twenty one, which somehow made me know that I needed to rewrite right in the middle of the novel. Realizing this was frustrating, but it needed to be done, because there are some defects in the plot and the storyline that were so horrible and changed the chain of events I wished my novel to take. But never mind that, because now I put a new storyline (Not particularly new, but I know my head from my toe now and I know where the story is going). I changed it in a way that kept the characters and the plot but changed the events to the extent that I needed to start from scratch, meaning CHAPTER ONE! I'm okay with that and I never give up on trying making my novel better, but I'm scared out of my bones from starting again. It's not like I'm writing a new novel, because I already have a lot of chapters that will remain the same, but I don't know if I'm starting it right or that the reader will like it. Any advice? I feel terrible and my protagonist here is blaming me for it. So, help.
Just start writing it. Its sometimes good to just get the story out. No one expects a perfect first draft. There may very well be plenty of abandoned plot lines and such that no longer fit. But just get the story down. Then you can go back and edit it. Remove whats no longer needed. Just get the story out.
Must second that. Don't let your novel get rationalized out of existence. Sometimes you just have to press on. My very first novel, I was vaguely aware that I was writing too much and being too wordy, but I was so caught up in the project that I just kept going. This was many years ago, when word processing programs didn't give you instant updates on word count, and you had to stop and press a function key. So, I never thought about word count until I was reading about the length of typical first novels being about 75,000 words, and I wondered what my word count was. When I pressed the function key, a dialogue box popped up and told me that my little gem was over 330,000 words. So, I had some editing to do. But if I'd fretted about word count (or anything else), there never would have been anything to edit. Good luck.
The book I'm querying now (First one that I've tried to publish) I did three big rewrites and one minor tweak. Now that I'm not getting any bites (Admittedly, I've only just started querying and haven't gotten that many rejections yet.) I've been debating if it needs another major overhaul. I'll give it time before it gets to that point, but it just seems to be part of the game.
The best advice I can give is to just write it anyway. If you like the plot then write it your way and don;t be too worried about it will turn out. You can always go back and make small changes later if you realize you don't like certain things. Also, nothing ever really seems to turn out on paper exactly as we have it plotted in our heads. Lol, I've just restarted the same darn short story for the 3rd time all in the course of about a week, and I'm thinking of restarting it again because it's so different from what I wanted it to be. A story will never fit it's mold completely, but little restarts can help sometimes. Also, if you like a story or novel then that's the most important thing. Try too hard to please others and do what you think others will like and it's easy to at best get frustrated with it,and at worst, lose your own voice in writing.
I've read some of Poe's works after I read your advice, guys. I sort of let myself drown in the beauty of the read and found myself utterly inspired by his writings, like I always am. So, I'll start writing again without waiting for people to tell me whether they like it or not, because I WANT to write this no matter what. I'll just hold back the urge to edit every sentence before I even finish it.
Write it again, but KEEP YOUR DRAFT! Your draft is like a checkpoint in a videogame. If you mess up again, at least that's something to fall back on. If you think about it that way, writing shouldn't seem as tough.
You should always keep your drafts anyway for copyright provenance. You'll pprobably never need them, but it's better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.
The more you learn about revising, the less you have to do it in the future. Part of writing is understanding that you take a walk, backtrack and then backtrack again a couple times. Then you let someone read it over and point out everything wrong with it. Anddddd then, you write it again.
Also, a book is just a book. It's not special, you'll write others too (if your goal is to be a professional writer, anyway). Get it done, then worry about if it is good enough for you to feel comfortable letting other people read it. But no one can form an opinion on something you haven't finished (nor will you learn anything if you never finish). So just do it
Instead of being scared, embrace the opportunity to rewrite. Your story will be much better for it. Rewriting is not a chore, it's a chance to sing your favorite song again, only with more confidence and gusto than before, because this time you know how it goes.
Finish it or you will be a story writing failure like me. Trust me, you will thank yourself later. After you finish you can have a re-read of the novel.
i'm with jane on this one. You've gotta press on and finish it. Don't rewrite it until it's finished.
What are you afraid of? Do you think that somehow if you screw this novel/idea up it will come to life and viciously murder you? It's a novel, nothing more and nothing less. A collection of paper and words and your soul, but most of those things are replaceable. Also those words you wrote about your problem mean nothing right now. Instead, all you had to do was write: I haven't the confidence to do what it is I love. And how sad is that. When we lose all of our faith in that which we put our faith into, why both even caring about anything anymore? DO you ever stop think about how troubling it must be for your lungs to breath on a daily basis? How about your feet? You walk on them constantly, so why not exercise your mind a bit? Who cares if you somehow botch this. Go ask any writer, no matter who it is, how their writing career has been and I bet you there isn't a lot of stories out there of guys who wrote the perfect novel on the first try and were golden ever since. Just start writing. Stop thinking and start writing. Put every ounce of your soul, whatever that may entail, into every little word, no matter how stupid, and write how you were meant to write. If you believe yourself to be this glorious beast we so pridefully label a writer, then do what you were meant to do. Do you ever see cows complaining about eating grass or chickens laying eggs? So go on then, write. If nothing else, remember that each time you put a word on paper you are continuing the greatest tradition we stupid, monkey-like humans have: a story to tell.
No need to be scared. I have already written the sequel to my newly published book, which takes the characters further, and the reader learns that much more about them and what has gone on before. Trouble is, there's something wrong with it, and more troublesome, I don't know what it is LOL So, I must re-write it; all 350 pages of it. Not good. Of course, as mentioned already up there, I will keep it to refer to (as there is much that will remain), and although I am not looking forward to it, it must be done *sigh* Just not right now LOL
I have some many stories to write and many ideas to become story, but what is a real good time to write new story?
any time you have one that needs to be written... there are no rules or right/wrong or good/bad time... and only you can answer the question... no one can do it for you... if you're a writer, you'll write... if you're not one, you won't... simple!?
The next best time to write a story is approximitaly December 22 2011. Though in all seriousness. The best time to start writing a new story is after you finish your current one. That way you can focus more on this new idea and story. But if course you can also always multitask on this. Basicly this is something you should answer for yourself. Only you can know. Though if you find yourself bursting with inspiration and desire to write a new idea, I suggest getting right on it.
The time to write a story is when you are convinced that the story you have in mind can be a completed story with all the elements that would entail. If you have a 'cool idea' but no idea how to execute it...not a good time to start. However, if you feel that you have a sense about what is driving the story and can bring it to conclusion, then you could likely start.
If a whole story seems intimidating to you as a new writer, walk it one bite at a time (snicker - I love mixed metaphors!). Make a personal goal of, say, at least 200 words a day. Not hard, and after a week or two you would have a short story or chapter. Don't make that a minimum, of course. If you feel in the groove, then keep on writing. It may also help (or not, depending on your personality) to do a little outlining. What are the major points you want to cover in your story? Write them out, then knock them off the list one at a time, a couple hundred words at a time. -Frank
This is really good advice, as is the rest in this thread. Writing a story is much more than writing the actual story. There are revisions and rewrites, and I always have a separate notebook dedicated only to describing the characters and developing the plot. The reader will never even know this notebook exists, but it contains character sheets and other notes and data that are invaluable to me while developing scenes and plot development. So you need to get started now, because it takes a long time to write a story. As the above poster said, just start small. Describe your character, practice the scenes. Or even write a brief synopsis of the plot to outline it. Any writing is good writing in my opinion
I'd have to say a good time to write is when inspiration strikes. Uninspired writing leaves something to be desired.
Only during the waxing moon...nah, how about tonight? (of course its usually a good idea to have more than the idea. I'm a proponent of doing some planning before actually doing the writing. I want to know the full course of the story before I write it, reserving the right to change it as I go.)
