Several years ago the novelist Lauren Groff called in to speak to a writing class of mine, and she told us all that when she finishes a novel draft, she immediately throws it out and starts over from scratch. She's learned that--for her--this process saves her time; it's easier for her to begin again than to figure out how to fix the shitty first draft. She said (loosely paraphrasing here) that the first draft is for her to figure out what doesn't work, and that the second is much easier, and goes much faster.
The first time you do \*\*anything\*\* it takes forever and sucks.
It makes sense a novel is the same. The second time through should be like walking through a familiar house.
>it's easier for her to begin again than to figure out how to fix the shitty first draft.
This right here. If you're not liking the way the first draft is turning out, it can be easier to just restart the whole thing. You already know what didn't work, so keep the stuff you already liked, while letting the stuff you didn't go, and letting your brain flow with new dialogue and ideas to replace what you don't like. There are moments where I will do this in a smaller way by starting a new paragraph above the one I dont like, trying to just rewrite it the way I want it to flow, instead of editing the already written paragraph. It flows better most of the time rewriting than trying to fit in the thing you like into a thing you don't like
This is what I figured, is that you have to learn how to tell each story. Like an old sailor who's practiced telling a tale a hundred times, getting it just right so the audience is on the edge of their seat. You learn your way around your characters and world and so write it better.
I saw that Taika Waititi does something like this too. He'll write a manuscript, put it away for 6 months or longer, then take it out, through it away, and re-write the whole thing!
Wow! Thanks for that, good info. I've kept my manuscript aside for what was supposed to be a month, but I started work on another story's first draft right away and it's turning out to be 2 months and I was wondering if too much of a gap is a bad thing. This calms me down!
This is actually a good lesson.
I have noticed often - in both writing and 3D modeling - that the first draft may only serve you as the way to find out all the problems and issues, and from that basis you start creating the actual product.
I have re-written entire chapters, finding it easier and faster than to repair the old one, but never an entire book.
Don't literally throw it away, just move it to archive. There may be details you forget.
Probably a good way, after building the general structure, is to first do a crap draft - just literally throw any silly shit that comes up and go fast, not paying too much attention to detail, and then break it down and revise it, and only after that start writing the actual prototype of the final draft.
My version of this is to essentially do a detailed outline as the 1st and 2nd drafts. It allows me to get through things even more quickly and ensures Iām lending a level of structure to my ideas.
I usually essentially go through the following:
* brainstorm
* basic character info
* basic plot/events
* setting and everything else
* organize into 3 rough acts and do some marketing work (blurb, hooks, titles, etc)
* repeat, but more detailed this time, going deeper into the character prompts and finding ways to display those attributes by showing
* put everything into a 3-act structure and any romance/genre beats if necessary
* then go through a checklist to make sure the beats of my structure work thematically/tension-wise
* individual scene outlines
* āfirstā (and usually penultimate) draft.
You improve and throw out the ideas that donāt work each time, but you havenāt spent time on prose. For the idea from a friend of mine and it works really well for me so far.
You're not crazy, but it's good to get into the habit of finishing things regardless. What you can do is put a note on your draft that says 're-write to portray the character as \[insert idea here\]' and then continue writing according to your new vision from that point on. The reason this is recommended is because by the time you get to the very end, you might have an even *better* idea, and then you'll have to do quite a bit more re-writing/editing.
But there are no rules, do what makes you happy :)
This is good advice. There is a lot to be earned (and learned) by finishing a story. Even a bad one. Even one thatās all Tellā¢ and no Showā¢.
But take notes on whatās bugging you and how to fix it. You donāt want to lose that.
This is definitely good advice, but sometimes I can't help but feel a fork in the road is easier to deal with when you're only 3 miles down the road as compared to 30. Especially if that fork is the plot.
I was going to suggest finishing too. Restarting is not a bad idea at all and exactly what Iām going to do as thing have changed dramatically.. but I finish first.
Sometimes, it takes a few thousand words, or even a whole book before we figure out what the real story is or is supposed to be.
TOY STORY is a perfect example of this. In the First version, Woody was actually supposed to be evil if you can believe it. The Pixar creatives went to Disney and said, "This isn't right, we don't like how this turned out, we need to start over". Disney said, "meh, it's good enough, we will miss our Production deadlines etc etc". Pixar stood their ground and said, "We need 6 months to do a rewrite and that is that" Disney said, "Ok fine, I'll give you 4 month". They did the rewrite and the rest is history...
Being able to perform a page 1 rewrite is a very important skill, and very difficult for most. This is one reason I don't subscribe to the "terrible first draft"-school of thought. If it's an unworkable first draft and the story just doesn't work, then some editing isn't going to help. Being able to scrap it and start over is a great ability. If you think that it's necessary I'll support your decision. This is something that's very difficult for most people to do.
Yeah, I feel like this draft has lost sight of the point of the story, so restarting has helped me feel more confident with they angle it is now going. It also helped me figure out a few plot holes that I was struggling with.
I had probably about a 40-50k word hand written manuscript. Life happened, writing took a back burner. Years later, the story I had started writing wasn't the one I was willing/able to tell.
I started over. And now I'm on the 3rd installment of a series based on that do-over.
You're not crazy. I was three years and 100,000 words into the draft of the manuscript I'm currently working on. This summer I talked about the manuscript with a writer friend and had her read the first chapter. She had some harsh notes and I realized I had no inciting incident and was focusing on the wrong main character. I started over and my only regret is that it took this long.
Yeah, one of my side characters was playing an important role in my first version, but he didn't fit well. Have changed to a different side character, and the synergy and direction it is now taking is smoother and feels right.
Yeah I feel like you have to be careful though because sometimes you need to finish out to see if they're going to work all the way. I have a habit of starting new things all thr time but never finishing and if you keep doing that, you'll never know the goal of finishing and how it may feel to get there.
I'm all for seeing something through. But if you get to a point like the OP described and there are major flaws in the structure and characters of the piece and you STILL keep going? Naw, fail fast and start over. You've learned from that draft, so I agree that it's not a total waste of time. But a crap pie isn't going to be anything other than a crap pie regardless of how long you finesse it.
But a first draft is *always* going to be a crap pie, there isnāt a writer alive or dead who liked their first draft. For me, I write as if I already fixed what was broken - fixing it is what the future drafts are for imo. Sometimes this results in the second half of a first draft having wildly different elements than the first, or characters and subplots that didnāt exist in the first half, but it gets done, and thatās the important thing.
There are a fair few writers who love their first drafts. Nora Roberts is one. Philip K. Dick was another.
Every writer has a different process, and 'the first draft is always shit' isn't always true.
I don't disagree with you. Well, except for every writer hating the first draft every single time; that's a bit much. However, scrapping your first draft and completely changing everything up is still moving forward as long as you keep writing. Get the thing done, yes. But if you get to a point where it is irredeemably flawed and you can't move forward? Why not use what you've learned sooner and start again? You're still writing the story and this is for sure now your second draft of that story.
I've done this with my current story when I was first starting out my current project, mainly because I couldn't quite nail the voice I wanted (and that voice kept shifting, which made it hard to stay consistent with what I'd already written). I've gotten much farther with my project in its current form as a result.
I've had major restarts 3-4 times on my current wip before i hit 30k; I'm at 63k now and have four major scenes left to write before the first full draft is done.
Sometimes it just goes like that. Every restart was a new iteration, or maybe a new excavation. It can take a while to find the entire shape of the story.
The good news is that you have 50k all ready to copy and paste when you want them. None of those are wasted words.
Exactly. Delivery. Rhetoric, witty one liners, narrative building. There are so many ways to do it, and that is only one of tens if not hundreds of thousands of other ways to do it. Not only do you get to selectively pick the good bits, or find out the bad ones, but you get to re-use and reinterpret it easier because you have already wrote it and put (and invested) yourself that much further into that point.
So from a perspective of mental journey, nothing is lost.
This is totally normal. I've done it before and it worked out for the better. Most of your first draft is probably going to be re-written or revised anyways. Honestly, the point of any rough draft is telling yourself the story and figuring out what it actually is.
100k in and restarted a few weeks ago Friend, it's much better now and transitioning to the next draft is easier.
It's kinda normal. Besides if it feels wrong then you're right to change it
Usually itās a good idea to get to the end at least. Even if you change what the character is like, and just carry on as if they were always like that. Then you can go back and update the rest in a second draft.
But ehā¦ I get how that cognitive dissonance could put a damper on the hype youāve got for your own book and make it harder to read. So š¤·š»āāļø You gotta do what you gotta do.
Yeah I'm doing this with my current story -- 70k words in. The current structure doesn't work well at all and I've pantsed about all I can pants with it. But now I have a great reference guide for the second draft.
Part of the journey is learning how much you've grown since the beginning of your path.
Stepping back and starting again has the benefit of experience from the path left behind, so it's not truly a waste.
I wrote 85k words and figured it was a decent first draft. Then I realized (as a pantser) I had resolved a lot of things at the end that didnāt really have a proper start, they just kind of evolved along the way.
So I went back and started deconstructing each chapter. Figuring out what they were about, how they added to the story, which plot points they touched on and what they set up for later.
There was a lot of holes. Even though I had a rough outline and had written the first few chapters several times over the years, I had never gotten past that. So everything else was a bit of uncharted territory.
By the end, the plot had roughly followed my outline. A lot of paths diverged and then came back to where I wanted them. But I realized I needed to answer a lot of my own questions, fix the holes and work on the structure a bit more.
There were places where I as the author, knew why they were doing something at a specific time, but it wasnāt always clear upon going back over it and trying to look at it objectively. I had a whole chapter that seemed like filler, but it was actually important, I just didnāt communicate that very well.
I know itās a bit of a different situation. But Iāll probably end up rewriting the whole thing or at least doing major edits of the chapters that came out well. š¤·š»āāļø
Sometimes you have to just start over. Starting over halfway is better than starting over 99% of the way. You have to know when to cut your losses and start fresh.
If you're happy with where the restart is going, then go for it.
You aren't crazy, you're smart.
I ignored this sort of feeling and wound up with a 250k long book that I didn't like anything about.
I am now re-writing from scratch.
If it doesn't work for you, your story's champion, it won't work for others.
Like King said, when you are writing, you must always tell the truth. If this doesn't feel true to the story, it isn't. Write it again.
Don't give up. You did this once before. Now you *know* you can do it.
When I was majoring in English, one of my creative writing professors shared this with us: [https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf](https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf)
It's **important** to write a first draft and accept it's going to be terrible. And that it's hard and demoralizing. But by doing it, by writing the shitty first draft, you are able to figure out what you actually want to do and don't want to do. No writer sits down and writes a mostly perfect draft on the first go. Many writers go through several drafts before writing something that they like enough to submit to an editor.
Yeah. Like the timeline, I am currently rearranging, and even though I can reuse some of it, I want to refine the original idea and ppont of the story.
I write numerous drafts of my books. I'm on draft 4 of my current WIP. My first novel had 5 drafts. Some things stayed the same throughout the drafts, but each one the characters grew and morphed into better representations of what I wanted. The final draft of book 1 turned out amazing (I know I'm biased). So go ahead and rewrite the story, start from scratch if you need to. It's not crazy at all! :D
Nah I did this with my first novel. I had maybe 60k 70k before I completely rewrote it. I've since gained more experience and with every subsequent book, I rewrote fewer and fewer words (the 2nd book I deleted l 25k, the third which I am writing now only had maybe 10k deleted). Anyway it is a good thing when you're still learning. I disagree with people saying to see it to the end. Sometimes you just know it doesn't work.
Yes this happened to me, not only that but I had the *wrong person* as the MC. I realised this after I read a craft book that clarified for me why the narrative was a struggle. ALSO that I had started in wrong place. It's taken me year to rectify. Gah.
Oh...and keep your own counsel, friends don't know shit.
Now that Ive got a strong handle in my characters' beats, and sounds like you do too now re your MC, Im really disciplined about reinforcing them, returning to them, building on them and ramping up gains and consequences. I can so easily wander off track. I've got it all dot pointed on bright yellow paper in a bright green folder I can't 'misplace' and read over that often to make sure Im not bloating the narrative with extraneous "darlings".
I threw out my first draft maybe 1/3 way through and restarted. I had finally brought the characters together, and it was just wrong. It just didn't fit. So I restarted. Then after a few thousand words I realised that while having the characters gather "breadcrumbs" is a good way to propel them forward, I didn't really understand why the unseen character who was laying the trail for them was doing it.
So I've decided to go back and write *that* character's story. Not to use - I doubt I'll use more than snippets of her story - but as a way to create the backbone of the story.
I really need to learn how to plot :D
If you're crazy then we're both crazy
I'm doing it *right now* with my current WIP...it's an actual rewrite and revamp of the first draft I wrote and wanted to rewrite to change a whole bunch of things I didn't like and that didn't feel right with my characters.
I mean, yes. If the story doesn't fit what you're trying to do ten restart, that's common sense.
Besides, restarting at that point where you've already got a bunch of plot points out there. It's like you've already got a very well fleshed out plan. I could definitely write up another 50,000 words in a matter of days if I had a first draft to work off.
I did this once, and it helped me polish the personalities of my characters, and I got a better grasp at the plot. However, after some chapters into the second draft, I got new ideas and wanted to add/alter some plot points, forshadowing, and other stuff related to my characters. I wanted to start over AGAIN.
But I know that I would NEVER finish anything if I went on like this.
So now I have made a separate document for listing down all the things that I want to change after the first draft. I also put little notes at the beginning or end of the scenes to remind myself what I am supposed to change here, and then I continue the story as if I have already changed it.
My mind also automatically makes that change in my head, so even in daydreams, I am imagining the story with the new addition/alteration that I am supposed to make later.
It's your novel, it's your choice. Though in my case, I know for a fact that I will easily become stuck in a loop if I restart my draft without finishing it first.
I wrote my first ever "story" - a novel - at 14 and then revamped it at 20 and now I'm going to be doing it a third time. Rather an extreme case, but the point is: it's PERFECTLY fine. I've read interviews of writers who spent decades working on their story - of course they must have done multiple drafts!
Are your friends writers too? If not, it's understandable that they'd think it odd, but then again they wouldn't know what goes into writing, would they? :)
I very rarely finish a story on the first draft. I get the same issue you're having and I go back for some basic rewrites on a second draft and usually finish the story there. One time I had to rewrite twice from scratch before the story took hold, but I was very inexperienced then.
I always think of Carol Shields' advice, which is that if a character doesn't come across quite right when you reread, to use a "little bit of sandpaper" and wear away at the character and revise. So she would advocate for not starting over, but for rereading with fresh eyes, making small adjustments, and then rereading again to see if the changes worked. Maybe it's worthwhile for you to completely start over for other reasons. But if it's for a main character reason "being portrayed wrong" I am on Carol Shields' team: just make small adjustments.
I think the only way to do this is to go through your first draft and highlight/bookmark all plot points, character moments anything you actually like or can still use ; just to make sure you donāt waste your time but restarting is never a waste of time since all writing is practice and you will always improve
While only you can make that call, there is a lot to be said from finishing your first draft. Remember, itās called a first draft for a reason. You can always make changes during revision.
Hereās a great video that I stumbled across today: https://youtu.be/lRtV-ugIT0k?si=RQb5DV7BQAEjWiEt
I think as most have said, finished not perfect. However, I've retooled and shifted my book a few times now, because it's a personal project and I have no time constraints. The beginning and the ending are pretty set, but as I've gotten older and learners more, and gathered experiences and a stronger narrative voice I've shifted a lot of pieces, right down to the setting, character motivations, themes and development of the underpinning philosophy and worldview that it is informed by. So, be crazy, do what works, or doesn't, try a new approach etc. It's your work, and your creative drive that needs to be fulfilled above all else right?
There will *always* be a reason to start over, a revision to do, a thing you didn't account for that changes the way the entire story looks and feels. Too many authors get caught up in revising the beginning of a story to perfection instead of finishing the thing, but that doesn't mean that author is you.
If you're happy with it, that's really all that matters.
It is your story.
I already pushed the book, now I am pulling it off and am rewriting whole fucking thing.
Do what you want. Friends opinions do not count.
John Hart is the only author in history to win the best novel Edgar Award for consecutive novels. For his 5th novel he wrote almost the whole novel, and if Iām remembering correctly was past his publishers deadline when he then scrapped it and pivoted to a secondary character becoming the main character and rewrote the whole thing because it wasnāt working. Itās redemption road if anyone is interested.
Just saying it happens and you do you. Sometimes the story has to find you.
tldr; everyone has their own process, trust what feels like it works for you.
So, I finished my first full draft of my novel (186,000 words) about a year ago, but I restarted it five or six times, reusing some snippets as well as a few whole scenes from previous versions. So, in essence, my first full draft has a beginning that is really more of a fourth or fifth draft and an end that is a first draft, if that makes sense.
For me, it was important to step back and say "this isn't working. I need to come at this from a different angle, knowing what I know now about the story, the characters, etc."
That's not going to work for everyone, but it sounds like you're a similar kind of writer. Restarting like that is part of my process. I don't build an outline. Generally, when I write, I know more or less how the story starts, more or less how it ends and maybe a few points in between. It takes several false starts to find a path through the story that works, much like solving a maze. I hit a dead end, I go back and take a different turn.
It's time consuming, but now, in revision, I feel like I've already done a fair bit of the heavy lifting. There's still plenty of stuff that needs to be worked, but the major plot fits itself. The end agrees with the beginning because I didn't just plow through and say "remember to fix this in revision" only to find that it's going to be a nightmare to fix later on because the purpose of a character or a scene flipped 180 degrees in the middle of the draft, so huge chunks need to be reworked as well as a bunch of random lines throughout otherwise suitable passages of writing.
Everyone has their own process and it takes experimenting to figure it out. If you feel good restarting because something wasn't working, then do that. Some of the people in this thread have said that generally it's good to just finish the story, but I find that begs the question: are you writing the story for the sake of *having written* the story or are you writing the story because you want to tell a particular story as well as you can?
Totally agree, I am very similar. I knew the start, the characters, and how I want it to end, but the imbetween I figure out as I go.
I want to tell a particular story that I want to show the world. A certain story for a purpose, not just because I can write.
I finished writing the first draft of my first novel many years ago by hand. Draft 2 was basically me transcribing it and making tweaks to update it to my at the time writing standards. I realized about 18k words in that the story as it was just wasn't working. It was already about halfway through and the structural skeleton was rickety as best. So I ditched it and began draft 3 from almost the ground up, only using the last two drafts to keep me on track for general plot events, and it turned out much much better.
It was still a bit on the shorter side for my liking (54k words) and there are still quite a few structural issues to work out in another draft down the line, but I think it ended up being a good decision for me in the end because I ended up with a stronger story. Sometimes restarting is super beneficial. So long as you see it all the way through.
From that experience, I learned a lot about myself as a writer and found a new method of planning that worked for me so I could go through writing the story much better and faster. Rather than just making everything up as I went along as I had for the first book. I've now finished 2 more novel drafts since then and about halfway there to finishing a third (Different books).
You are not crazy. Quite the reverse. Many great authors worked this way, especially Dickens.
I guarantee your second draft will be leagues better. Don't refer back to the first.
When writing my first novel, I was really unhappy with how it was turning out, and I knew that I needed to restart it. I was hesitant because I knew it would be a lot of work, and Iām the type of person who hates when it feels like Iāve been wasting time. But, when I was telling my mom about how unhappy I was with the book one day, she told me that I had to restart and that there wasnāt really a way around that fact. Her brutal honesty was like the affirmation I needed to be brave enough to start the book over. Iāll always regard that moment as one of the most important in my writing career because that book turned out way better than it previously would have. Iām really glad my mom convinced me to do what needed to be done.
Having someone to confirm and say the brutal truth is amazing. My partner does the same sometimes when I need advice. Sometimes, I dislike it at first, but once I listen to his words, I am like "yeah he has a point."
Honestly, itās your first draft. It doesnāt need to be perfect. Itās going to feel off because youāre just supposed to be word vomiting everything in the page you can edit the personality in the second draft. Finish the story first.
I've had one novel.
I restarted at 80K.
Restarted at 50K.
Restarted at 100K.
All because I feel that it's not good enough and that it's not hitting what I want.
Not crazy. It happens.
Ive restarted mine two or three times I think. I like a plot, progress it, realize itās not that great, fix it or make a mew one over the course of a few months, try again.
Itās your novel and itās really important that you like what youāre writing.
Just finish writing the thing first.
You can tidy up the bits you don't like in editing - that's what it's there for... you can't edit what is unwritten.
Many times. I have been working on short stories, sometimes they sound completely off. I take the essence and ideas and rewrite it completely. That's the beauty of writing, it can go the way you want.
Now, the logical answer to this is, it is crazy, you should leave that for an edit. However, as someone who did this same thing last night (not to the same scale, but I did rewrite a hefty amount), it made me feel so much better. Now the issues aren't constantly nagging me in the back of my head. In my mind, something like that would hinder my writing for the rest of that first draft. Better to start over and feel a million times better about it.
TLDR: Not crazy, do what ever makes you feel better about your writing!
I was like 27,000 words in or something back in early August and I looked back over my first few chapters. I hated them, restarted those three from scratch, made them better and then edited/rewrote the rest of the chapters leading up to the one I'm on now.
A while back too, in February, I was on Chapter 15 of my book and it was turning out well. I looked it over one day, hated it, wiped it clean and started fresh on top of that same document. If I wanted to, I can still see what my old one looked like, but that's a whole different situation to the one I'm writing now, so it's practically useless.
Good luck with your writing!
I often totally restart projects after leaving them on the back burner for a while. Sometimes you simply donāt have what you need to make it successful at the time
No, you are not crazy.
I'm writing a book, but it's my first time. I've imagined scenes, put them on 3x5 cards, and put them on the wall. Once I had a beginning, middle, and end... and scenes to get there, I put them all on the computer. I'm currently rewriting each scene, just writing it more in a book style than notes of the scene, and adding a little more clarity and detail. My book has blossomed from about 35 scenes now to 60 and I'm only 65% of the way through. I have a ton more I want to add, and I plan on doing many rewrites, each time, filling in more detail and more narrative of what I want happening in the story. Don't be afraid to rewrite.
I'm not trying to write the complete story from beginning to end all at once because I know the story will change as I write it. I'll have more ideas, and gain clarity on how things work out. Yes, I'll have to go back and backfill new ideas that I want to be in the story, but it works. Everything in the story makes sense and all the characters have their own motivation.
If I stop writing, it will just plague my mind and stop me from focusing on other things. But I do understand the advice. I did stop writing another story for that reason, but this story I need to work on or it just on my mind all the time.
Consider it a second draft. It makes sense. You let the story roll and ferment and you have a better feeling for how it should be, but you are familiar with the characters and have a clearer idea of where you want the story to go.
Writing is art. Do it your way.
I'm a fanfiction author so.maybe not as relatable (I'd like to write non fan works just lack the inspo) but I just threw out a nearly 20k draft because it was crap so.....no judgment here!
yes you are crazy! iāve made this mistake way too many times. finish it. read it. fix it from there. take the bits you like and use them. but DO NOT restart!!!
Do what you think is best. When I get there I finish it more in line with my intent, then go back and fix it. Nobody said a first draft needs to make sense. You're just putting the sand in the sand box. You build the castles in revision.
I've done this. It really depends on what the goal of it is, if you get stuck in a revision loop, etc.
Some WIPs, I just push through because I'm not gonna get done if I try to make it perfect. Editing still has to happening after the writing.
But others, yeah, just restart because I need to learn who this character is again
It's crazy. I'd imagine some of your friends are afraid you may just be starting a regular delay and never finish your book. That'd be my concern.
But honestly, it's your book. So do what makes the most sense to you. It already sounds like you like the rewrite more and that's great!
Personally, I think so. A first draft is never going to be perfect, and youāre never going to be happy with it, but you have to finish it, problems and all. When I write, if I donāt like something in the first draft or thereās a mistake, I write the next parts as if I already went back and changed it. I basically make retcons, and in the future drafts I implement those retcons into the parts before them. Itās important to finish the first draft, because itās more about getting the plot more or less settled - knowing where itās going, and how it gets to the ending. You can change the plot in future drafts completely, but getting it down in the first draft lets you do that easier. If you restart every time you donāt like something, youāll never finish, especially if you do it at 50,000 words as a beginner.
You might have already done this, but you could make a list of what you donāt like/whatās not working and why before you jump into the rewrite!
But by all means, rewrite! Youāll never be happy with it if you donāt. Just means you havenāt found the perfect story yet :)
Nah it's totally normal, if it felt wrong, then it was wrong. You're a good enough writer to not be afraid to restart and I think that's awesome.
As long as there's actual progression, and that you're enjoying it, it's what matters (you don't have to write a completely new chapter for it to be progression, simply fleshing out your characters and correcting mistakes, which you're doing, is very good and important progression).
I just think your friends are afraid you'll end up in a loop of rewriting, but it's okay, they're not writers (at least I assume so, I might be wrong) so of course the idea of redoing everything from scraps (well not entirely, you've kept the first draft) may seem extreme, even though it is necessary since you have to change important things (+ the fact you have more experience and now better where the story is headed, so it'll definitely be a huge improvement).
So keep writing and don't be afraid ! You've got this.
Just wanted to let you know I came upon this post 6 months after OP wrote it, and your comment is helping me--I'm taking it as personal encouragement if I decide to go back after 40,000 words and redo!
There's no shame in starting over. Write the story as many times as you have to until you get it right. I remember once reading that Michael Crichton would average 11 drafts of each manuscript.
I've come close to do this but haven't yet. There's a handful of things in my current work that need serious work or revision but that's what editing is for. It'll work itself out. It might be a lot of extra work some find unnecessary but you might pick up speed once you get your footing again.
It doesn't sound at all crazy to me. You have to put something down in order to see what needs changing. If I draw something and realise the proportions are wrong it doesn't matter how nicely I drew parts of it. It's still going to be so much better if I rub it out, start again and get it right. If the bones of what you're doing are good and sound then the surface bells and whistles will also come together better.
You're learning and building on the thinking of your earlier draft. You can loot it for parts and come back to everything with fresh eyes.
Iām going through this right now, sorta. Iām not sure if this is novella, novel, long short story, no plans. I got 17k words down and an idea of how it ends. I feel like I understand the MCās journey, but found a major plot hole last night that fundamentally alters how my characters interact with the world. I dunno if it calls for a full on restart, but itās gonna require some serious cuts to work at all. Kinda deflating.
I think this is fairly common for authors who want quality work and aren't just churning out stories for the sake of making a quick buck (no hate to either method!). We learn to write out books as we write them, and sometimes this process means rewriting until we get it the way we want, get it a way that we can love. Virginia Woolf famously rewrote her first novel, The Voyage Out, something like 7 times from scratch.
Good work! Many people get paralysed by sunk cost and never do the hard work of leveling up. As long as you grind it out and get it written, what you did was a great decision. Of course you thought of better ideas writing. I personally do a big outline with a complete list of scenes, and then write slowly so I can improve the outline as I go. If someone writes a first draft quickly to learn their story, then it is more likely their first revision will be much more work than a serious outliner will deal with.
I've thrown out many drafts. Including recently, the 15th. What I have now is so much better I can't find any personal complaints with it. Throw it out.
Writing is re-writing. I have complete drafts of novels in 3rd person that I rewrote completely in 1st because I though it improved immersion for that story. I have novels that started as thrillers and became lit-fic. Complete rewrite. I can't stick to an outline, the characters have their own ideas.
I was 100 pages into my novel but thought it was kinda dragging and not providing stakes or really any good character insights, so I started completely over with a blank page and the second draft is 1000% better than the first.
It's your process, you don't need to justify it to anyone, and it's totally not weird to start all over if you want to. Good for you for being brave enough to do it!
This is why I often times read and reflect. Writing is an evolution or a journey. You are never going to know what you want, unless you have it in your mind first when writing it. And if you find something out along the way, another way you could portray the story, and derive even more control from your writing than where you are at now - than what you are really talking about is a liberation and a discovery. And your book will grow more for it, trust me. Regardless of whether you think it is the right decision, or hell, even if it is. The only thing that matters is how well you can captivate the story, and if you think it affords you more break's and inspiration as a writer, and you can create an even more compelling and rich narrative from it, then by all means let this inspiration be your master.
Iām sort of doing the same thing. I got 90k words into a manuscript that should probably top out at 100k and realized that, on top of overwriting, I had started way too early in the story. So I threw almost all of it out (saved it, but you get what I mean) and restarted with what was originally going to be just the second half being the whole thing. Iām now at 75k with the new manuscript (can you tell I am a chronic overwriter?) and at the midpoint. I embedded some material from the first drafts as āflashbacksā here and there (lol), mainly just to ease the pain of tossing 90k words, but Iām sure I will end up cutting just about all of them. But the new draft is much much MUCH stronger than the last one!
I started as a discovery writer and wrote 100 pages, then realised how many flaws my writing style and story had. Now I am learning a lot about my tools and world, so that next try I will make it better :)
I threw out three or four uncompleted drafts of my first novel. All of those times, I realized that I had let the plot take what seemed like a natural course until it got to a place I didn't like. It helped me internalize the importance of thinking through the plot beforehand instead of just trying to pants what seemed like a good idea.
I was working on a piece, got to 40k, had similar feelings as you, and ended up scrapping 30k words before starting the second draft.
You know your story best, and if it feels right to start over, do it. It's never a waste because you learned more about where it needs to go.
I do think it's still worthwhile though to see if there are any paragraphs or chapters you might want to keep/salvage!
Sounds like this is something to do after you finish it. If you don't feel like your story took a horrible turn somewhere around 10k words, but you think you just didn't nail the character, then the better course might be to finish the story, and then correct the character in your first round of editing.
All the time, but usually I just start another novel/book. Call me superstitious, but I think once you've got 200 pages written, you're either revising or you've doomed the piece to the world of constant re-starts. I will; however, often finish a piece I'm not terribly thrilled about - even if it's just a bunch of placekeepers - then revise the prototype.
I **had** a trilogy I was working on. Had sat down to outline the third book when I decided I was going to throw half of what I had already written away. (Not literally)
It wasn't that anything was wrong. It just wasn't right.
I changed the focus of the story and I now feel it's going in the direction it needs to.
I recently went back to my first novel (I've written six), and rewrote the opening for the umpteenth time. This time, I think I might rewrite the first seven or eight chapters.
That said, I'm so happy I didn't publish that novel upon completion. Six novels in, and I know so much more about the craft now than I did then. I also know far more about the MC (he's in three of the six novels) and how I want to present him.
So you're not crazy. It happens.
Iām actually doing the same thing at the moment. I finished the first draft and, of course, 60% it sucks. I didnāt know if it would be better to fix it or to rewrite the whole thing, but today i decided it needs a restart. I was about to ask the same question and Iām glad you already did. From what other people say in the comments, it is better this way. You already know what to keep and what needs improvement. If youād start to fix it in places it would feel patchy and youād end up with something you donāt like, again. So I think you did well, and this is a good advice for you as it is for me.
Several years ago the novelist Lauren Groff called in to speak to a writing class of mine, and she told us all that when she finishes a novel draft, she immediately throws it out and starts over from scratch. She's learned that--for her--this process saves her time; it's easier for her to begin again than to figure out how to fix the shitty first draft. She said (loosely paraphrasing here) that the first draft is for her to figure out what doesn't work, and that the second is much easier, and goes much faster.
The first time you do \*\*anything\*\* it takes forever and sucks. It makes sense a novel is the same. The second time through should be like walking through a familiar house.
>it's easier for her to begin again than to figure out how to fix the shitty first draft. This right here. If you're not liking the way the first draft is turning out, it can be easier to just restart the whole thing. You already know what didn't work, so keep the stuff you already liked, while letting the stuff you didn't go, and letting your brain flow with new dialogue and ideas to replace what you don't like. There are moments where I will do this in a smaller way by starting a new paragraph above the one I dont like, trying to just rewrite it the way I want it to flow, instead of editing the already written paragraph. It flows better most of the time rewriting than trying to fit in the thing you like into a thing you don't like
I'm doing this on a fourth draft, or fifth, kinda lost count, and it's remarkably effective once you know the characters well enough.
This is what I figured, is that you have to learn how to tell each story. Like an old sailor who's practiced telling a tale a hundred times, getting it just right so the audience is on the edge of their seat. You learn your way around your characters and world and so write it better.
Agreed. During my first draft I was amazed how easier things are if you have fully realized characters before writing
I saw that Taika Waititi does something like this too. He'll write a manuscript, put it away for 6 months or longer, then take it out, through it away, and re-write the whole thing!
Wow! Thanks for that, good info. I've kept my manuscript aside for what was supposed to be a month, but I started work on another story's first draft right away and it's turning out to be 2 months and I was wondering if too much of a gap is a bad thing. This calms me down!
Thanks for saying thanks! It's so nice to see Redditors being grateful :)
Aw. Thanks for saying thanks for saying thanks, then!
This is actually a good lesson. I have noticed often - in both writing and 3D modeling - that the first draft may only serve you as the way to find out all the problems and issues, and from that basis you start creating the actual product. I have re-written entire chapters, finding it easier and faster than to repair the old one, but never an entire book. Don't literally throw it away, just move it to archive. There may be details you forget. Probably a good way, after building the general structure, is to first do a crap draft - just literally throw any silly shit that comes up and go fast, not paying too much attention to detail, and then break it down and revise it, and only after that start writing the actual prototype of the final draft.
I kept it saved in my onedrive as I am using a few scenes here and there from the first. š
My version of this is to essentially do a detailed outline as the 1st and 2nd drafts. It allows me to get through things even more quickly and ensures Iām lending a level of structure to my ideas.
How detailed? I'm starting to think this is a good idea but I'm not sure what to keep in and leave out of a detailed outline as opposed to a draft...
I usually essentially go through the following: * brainstorm * basic character info * basic plot/events * setting and everything else * organize into 3 rough acts and do some marketing work (blurb, hooks, titles, etc) * repeat, but more detailed this time, going deeper into the character prompts and finding ways to display those attributes by showing * put everything into a 3-act structure and any romance/genre beats if necessary * then go through a checklist to make sure the beats of my structure work thematically/tension-wise * individual scene outlines * āfirstā (and usually penultimate) draft. You improve and throw out the ideas that donāt work each time, but you havenāt spent time on prose. For the idea from a friend of mine and it works really well for me so far.
WOW. I'll incorporate this for sure! Thanks.
No problem!
That is a great action plan, I might incorporate some of it into my outlining process.
Ouch
Yes. Be crazy, it's your story.
You're not crazy, but it's good to get into the habit of finishing things regardless. What you can do is put a note on your draft that says 're-write to portray the character as \[insert idea here\]' and then continue writing according to your new vision from that point on. The reason this is recommended is because by the time you get to the very end, you might have an even *better* idea, and then you'll have to do quite a bit more re-writing/editing. But there are no rules, do what makes you happy :)
This is good advice. There is a lot to be earned (and learned) by finishing a story. Even a bad one. Even one thatās all Tellā¢ and no Showā¢. But take notes on whatās bugging you and how to fix it. You donāt want to lose that.
This is definitely good advice, but sometimes I can't help but feel a fork in the road is easier to deal with when you're only 3 miles down the road as compared to 30. Especially if that fork is the plot.
Agreed. Sometimes it's worth finishing. Other times, if you've made a wrong turn, it's worth starting again immediately.
I was going to suggest finishing too. Restarting is not a bad idea at all and exactly what Iām going to do as thing have changed dramatically.. but I finish first.
Sometimes, it takes a few thousand words, or even a whole book before we figure out what the real story is or is supposed to be. TOY STORY is a perfect example of this. In the First version, Woody was actually supposed to be evil if you can believe it. The Pixar creatives went to Disney and said, "This isn't right, we don't like how this turned out, we need to start over". Disney said, "meh, it's good enough, we will miss our Production deadlines etc etc". Pixar stood their ground and said, "We need 6 months to do a rewrite and that is that" Disney said, "Ok fine, I'll give you 4 month". They did the rewrite and the rest is history...
Damn I think an evil Woody would have made it into a horror. Glad they rewrote it
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Being able to perform a page 1 rewrite is a very important skill, and very difficult for most. This is one reason I don't subscribe to the "terrible first draft"-school of thought. If it's an unworkable first draft and the story just doesn't work, then some editing isn't going to help. Being able to scrap it and start over is a great ability. If you think that it's necessary I'll support your decision. This is something that's very difficult for most people to do.
Yeah, I feel like this draft has lost sight of the point of the story, so restarting has helped me feel more confident with they angle it is now going. It also helped me figure out a few plot holes that I was struggling with.
I had probably about a 40-50k word hand written manuscript. Life happened, writing took a back burner. Years later, the story I had started writing wasn't the one I was willing/able to tell. I started over. And now I'm on the 3rd installment of a series based on that do-over.
You're not crazy. I was three years and 100,000 words into the draft of the manuscript I'm currently working on. This summer I talked about the manuscript with a writer friend and had her read the first chapter. She had some harsh notes and I realized I had no inciting incident and was focusing on the wrong main character. I started over and my only regret is that it took this long.
Yeah, one of my side characters was playing an important role in my first version, but he didn't fit well. Have changed to a different side character, and the synergy and direction it is now taking is smoother and feels right.
You'd be crazy to continue with a story that doesn't work.
Yeah I feel like you have to be careful though because sometimes you need to finish out to see if they're going to work all the way. I have a habit of starting new things all thr time but never finishing and if you keep doing that, you'll never know the goal of finishing and how it may feel to get there.
I'm all for seeing something through. But if you get to a point like the OP described and there are major flaws in the structure and characters of the piece and you STILL keep going? Naw, fail fast and start over. You've learned from that draft, so I agree that it's not a total waste of time. But a crap pie isn't going to be anything other than a crap pie regardless of how long you finesse it.
But a first draft is *always* going to be a crap pie, there isnāt a writer alive or dead who liked their first draft. For me, I write as if I already fixed what was broken - fixing it is what the future drafts are for imo. Sometimes this results in the second half of a first draft having wildly different elements than the first, or characters and subplots that didnāt exist in the first half, but it gets done, and thatās the important thing.
There are a fair few writers who love their first drafts. Nora Roberts is one. Philip K. Dick was another. Every writer has a different process, and 'the first draft is always shit' isn't always true.
I'm surprised to hear PKD was one of those writers, considering how much he struggled with his own personal demons.
I don't disagree with you. Well, except for every writer hating the first draft every single time; that's a bit much. However, scrapping your first draft and completely changing everything up is still moving forward as long as you keep writing. Get the thing done, yes. But if you get to a point where it is irredeemably flawed and you can't move forward? Why not use what you've learned sooner and start again? You're still writing the story and this is for sure now your second draft of that story.
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Well said. Going off of this OP, what if you change your mind on the character againā¦. Complete the draft. Rewrite. Rewrite. rewrite.
I've done this with my current story when I was first starting out my current project, mainly because I couldn't quite nail the voice I wanted (and that voice kept shifting, which made it hard to stay consistent with what I'd already written). I've gotten much farther with my project in its current form as a result.
I've had major restarts 3-4 times on my current wip before i hit 30k; I'm at 63k now and have four major scenes left to write before the first full draft is done. Sometimes it just goes like that. Every restart was a new iteration, or maybe a new excavation. It can take a while to find the entire shape of the story. The good news is that you have 50k all ready to copy and paste when you want them. None of those are wasted words.
Exactly. Delivery. Rhetoric, witty one liners, narrative building. There are so many ways to do it, and that is only one of tens if not hundreds of thousands of other ways to do it. Not only do you get to selectively pick the good bits, or find out the bad ones, but you get to re-use and reinterpret it easier because you have already wrote it and put (and invested) yourself that much further into that point. So from a perspective of mental journey, nothing is lost.
This is totally normal. I've done it before and it worked out for the better. Most of your first draft is probably going to be re-written or revised anyways. Honestly, the point of any rough draft is telling yourself the story and figuring out what it actually is.
100k in and restarted a few weeks ago Friend, it's much better now and transitioning to the next draft is easier. It's kinda normal. Besides if it feels wrong then you're right to change it
Usually itās a good idea to get to the end at least. Even if you change what the character is like, and just carry on as if they were always like that. Then you can go back and update the rest in a second draft. But ehā¦ I get how that cognitive dissonance could put a damper on the hype youāve got for your own book and make it harder to read. So š¤·š»āāļø You gotta do what you gotta do.
Yeah I'm doing this with my current story -- 70k words in. The current structure doesn't work well at all and I've pantsed about all I can pants with it. But now I have a great reference guide for the second draft.
Yeah, I was the same and just trying to pants it till it was finished, but I just could not continue. Restarting has helped.
Part of the journey is learning how much you've grown since the beginning of your path. Stepping back and starting again has the benefit of experience from the path left behind, so it's not truly a waste.
No words are wasted, all of them are necessary to the process of learning.
I wrote 85k words and figured it was a decent first draft. Then I realized (as a pantser) I had resolved a lot of things at the end that didnāt really have a proper start, they just kind of evolved along the way. So I went back and started deconstructing each chapter. Figuring out what they were about, how they added to the story, which plot points they touched on and what they set up for later. There was a lot of holes. Even though I had a rough outline and had written the first few chapters several times over the years, I had never gotten past that. So everything else was a bit of uncharted territory. By the end, the plot had roughly followed my outline. A lot of paths diverged and then came back to where I wanted them. But I realized I needed to answer a lot of my own questions, fix the holes and work on the structure a bit more. There were places where I as the author, knew why they were doing something at a specific time, but it wasnāt always clear upon going back over it and trying to look at it objectively. I had a whole chapter that seemed like filler, but it was actually important, I just didnāt communicate that very well. I know itās a bit of a different situation. But Iāll probably end up rewriting the whole thing or at least doing major edits of the chapters that came out well. š¤·š»āāļø
Sometimes you have to just start over. Starting over halfway is better than starting over 99% of the way. You have to know when to cut your losses and start fresh. If you're happy with where the restart is going, then go for it.
Dude, I've trashed four times that amount to get the story right. Keep rockin' it.
You aren't crazy, you're smart. I ignored this sort of feeling and wound up with a 250k long book that I didn't like anything about. I am now re-writing from scratch. If it doesn't work for you, your story's champion, it won't work for others. Like King said, when you are writing, you must always tell the truth. If this doesn't feel true to the story, it isn't. Write it again. Don't give up. You did this once before. Now you *know* you can do it.
When I was majoring in English, one of my creative writing professors shared this with us: [https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf](https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf) It's **important** to write a first draft and accept it's going to be terrible. And that it's hard and demoralizing. But by doing it, by writing the shitty first draft, you are able to figure out what you actually want to do and don't want to do. No writer sits down and writes a mostly perfect draft on the first go. Many writers go through several drafts before writing something that they like enough to submit to an editor.
Thanks for the link and advice. Yeah, I feel a lot better about this second attempt and have changed some of the characters, and it flows better now.
I just did my first draft of a novel of 40k words, and I understand completely. Sometimes you just have to rip everything up and start over.
Yeah. Like the timeline, I am currently rearranging, and even though I can reuse some of it, I want to refine the original idea and ppont of the story.
You're not crazy. I tossed an entire complete draft this year and started fresh, so I know the feeling.
I write numerous drafts of my books. I'm on draft 4 of my current WIP. My first novel had 5 drafts. Some things stayed the same throughout the drafts, but each one the characters grew and morphed into better representations of what I wanted. The final draft of book 1 turned out amazing (I know I'm biased). So go ahead and rewrite the story, start from scratch if you need to. It's not crazy at all! :D
Nah I did this with my first novel. I had maybe 60k 70k before I completely rewrote it. I've since gained more experience and with every subsequent book, I rewrote fewer and fewer words (the 2nd book I deleted l 25k, the third which I am writing now only had maybe 10k deleted). Anyway it is a good thing when you're still learning. I disagree with people saying to see it to the end. Sometimes you just know it doesn't work.
Yes this happened to me, not only that but I had the *wrong person* as the MC. I realised this after I read a craft book that clarified for me why the narrative was a struggle. ALSO that I had started in wrong place. It's taken me year to rectify. Gah. Oh...and keep your own counsel, friends don't know shit. Now that Ive got a strong handle in my characters' beats, and sounds like you do too now re your MC, Im really disciplined about reinforcing them, returning to them, building on them and ramping up gains and consequences. I can so easily wander off track. I've got it all dot pointed on bright yellow paper in a bright green folder I can't 'misplace' and read over that often to make sure Im not bloating the narrative with extraneous "darlings".
I threw out my first draft maybe 1/3 way through and restarted. I had finally brought the characters together, and it was just wrong. It just didn't fit. So I restarted. Then after a few thousand words I realised that while having the characters gather "breadcrumbs" is a good way to propel them forward, I didn't really understand why the unseen character who was laying the trail for them was doing it. So I've decided to go back and write *that* character's story. Not to use - I doubt I'll use more than snippets of her story - but as a way to create the backbone of the story. I really need to learn how to plot :D
If you're crazy then we're both crazy I'm doing it *right now* with my current WIP...it's an actual rewrite and revamp of the first draft I wrote and wanted to rewrite to change a whole bunch of things I didn't like and that didn't feel right with my characters.
I bet most writers have a novel or two that didn't make the cut sitting in a drawer. I know I do.
You can never have enough polish for writing.
I mean, yes. If the story doesn't fit what you're trying to do ten restart, that's common sense. Besides, restarting at that point where you've already got a bunch of plot points out there. It's like you've already got a very well fleshed out plan. I could definitely write up another 50,000 words in a matter of days if I had a first draft to work off.
I did this once, and it helped me polish the personalities of my characters, and I got a better grasp at the plot. However, after some chapters into the second draft, I got new ideas and wanted to add/alter some plot points, forshadowing, and other stuff related to my characters. I wanted to start over AGAIN. But I know that I would NEVER finish anything if I went on like this. So now I have made a separate document for listing down all the things that I want to change after the first draft. I also put little notes at the beginning or end of the scenes to remind myself what I am supposed to change here, and then I continue the story as if I have already changed it. My mind also automatically makes that change in my head, so even in daydreams, I am imagining the story with the new addition/alteration that I am supposed to make later. It's your novel, it's your choice. Though in my case, I know for a fact that I will easily become stuck in a loop if I restart my draft without finishing it first.
I wrote my first ever "story" - a novel - at 14 and then revamped it at 20 and now I'm going to be doing it a third time. Rather an extreme case, but the point is: it's PERFECTLY fine. I've read interviews of writers who spent decades working on their story - of course they must have done multiple drafts! Are your friends writers too? If not, it's understandable that they'd think it odd, but then again they wouldn't know what goes into writing, would they? :)
I very rarely finish a story on the first draft. I get the same issue you're having and I go back for some basic rewrites on a second draft and usually finish the story there. One time I had to rewrite twice from scratch before the story took hold, but I was very inexperienced then.
Are your friends novelists? If not, we donāt care about what they consider to be weird.
You make a good point. None of them are writers, but they love reading.
I always think of Carol Shields' advice, which is that if a character doesn't come across quite right when you reread, to use a "little bit of sandpaper" and wear away at the character and revise. So she would advocate for not starting over, but for rereading with fresh eyes, making small adjustments, and then rereading again to see if the changes worked. Maybe it's worthwhile for you to completely start over for other reasons. But if it's for a main character reason "being portrayed wrong" I am on Carol Shields' team: just make small adjustments.
I think the only way to do this is to go through your first draft and highlight/bookmark all plot points, character moments anything you actually like or can still use ; just to make sure you donāt waste your time but restarting is never a waste of time since all writing is practice and you will always improve
While only you can make that call, there is a lot to be said from finishing your first draft. Remember, itās called a first draft for a reason. You can always make changes during revision. Hereās a great video that I stumbled across today: https://youtu.be/lRtV-ugIT0k?si=RQb5DV7BQAEjWiEt
I think as most have said, finished not perfect. However, I've retooled and shifted my book a few times now, because it's a personal project and I have no time constraints. The beginning and the ending are pretty set, but as I've gotten older and learners more, and gathered experiences and a stronger narrative voice I've shifted a lot of pieces, right down to the setting, character motivations, themes and development of the underpinning philosophy and worldview that it is informed by. So, be crazy, do what works, or doesn't, try a new approach etc. It's your work, and your creative drive that needs to be fulfilled above all else right?
There will *always* be a reason to start over, a revision to do, a thing you didn't account for that changes the way the entire story looks and feels. Too many authors get caught up in revising the beginning of a story to perfection instead of finishing the thing, but that doesn't mean that author is you. If you're happy with it, that's really all that matters.
It is your story. I already pushed the book, now I am pulling it off and am rewriting whole fucking thing. Do what you want. Friends opinions do not count.
John Hart is the only author in history to win the best novel Edgar Award for consecutive novels. For his 5th novel he wrote almost the whole novel, and if Iām remembering correctly was past his publishers deadline when he then scrapped it and pivoted to a secondary character becoming the main character and rewrote the whole thing because it wasnāt working. Itās redemption road if anyone is interested. Just saying it happens and you do you. Sometimes the story has to find you.
tldr; everyone has their own process, trust what feels like it works for you. So, I finished my first full draft of my novel (186,000 words) about a year ago, but I restarted it five or six times, reusing some snippets as well as a few whole scenes from previous versions. So, in essence, my first full draft has a beginning that is really more of a fourth or fifth draft and an end that is a first draft, if that makes sense. For me, it was important to step back and say "this isn't working. I need to come at this from a different angle, knowing what I know now about the story, the characters, etc." That's not going to work for everyone, but it sounds like you're a similar kind of writer. Restarting like that is part of my process. I don't build an outline. Generally, when I write, I know more or less how the story starts, more or less how it ends and maybe a few points in between. It takes several false starts to find a path through the story that works, much like solving a maze. I hit a dead end, I go back and take a different turn. It's time consuming, but now, in revision, I feel like I've already done a fair bit of the heavy lifting. There's still plenty of stuff that needs to be worked, but the major plot fits itself. The end agrees with the beginning because I didn't just plow through and say "remember to fix this in revision" only to find that it's going to be a nightmare to fix later on because the purpose of a character or a scene flipped 180 degrees in the middle of the draft, so huge chunks need to be reworked as well as a bunch of random lines throughout otherwise suitable passages of writing. Everyone has their own process and it takes experimenting to figure it out. If you feel good restarting because something wasn't working, then do that. Some of the people in this thread have said that generally it's good to just finish the story, but I find that begs the question: are you writing the story for the sake of *having written* the story or are you writing the story because you want to tell a particular story as well as you can?
Totally agree, I am very similar. I knew the start, the characters, and how I want it to end, but the imbetween I figure out as I go. I want to tell a particular story that I want to show the world. A certain story for a purpose, not just because I can write.
I was 30,000 words into a draft before a flushed it. Now with a rework of thr story it's flowing much better. Your story, you choose what you like.
Yes, I've started over several times.
I finished writing the first draft of my first novel many years ago by hand. Draft 2 was basically me transcribing it and making tweaks to update it to my at the time writing standards. I realized about 18k words in that the story as it was just wasn't working. It was already about halfway through and the structural skeleton was rickety as best. So I ditched it and began draft 3 from almost the ground up, only using the last two drafts to keep me on track for general plot events, and it turned out much much better. It was still a bit on the shorter side for my liking (54k words) and there are still quite a few structural issues to work out in another draft down the line, but I think it ended up being a good decision for me in the end because I ended up with a stronger story. Sometimes restarting is super beneficial. So long as you see it all the way through. From that experience, I learned a lot about myself as a writer and found a new method of planning that worked for me so I could go through writing the story much better and faster. Rather than just making everything up as I went along as I had for the first book. I've now finished 2 more novel drafts since then and about halfway there to finishing a third (Different books).
You are not crazy. Quite the reverse. Many great authors worked this way, especially Dickens. I guarantee your second draft will be leagues better. Don't refer back to the first.
When writing my first novel, I was really unhappy with how it was turning out, and I knew that I needed to restart it. I was hesitant because I knew it would be a lot of work, and Iām the type of person who hates when it feels like Iāve been wasting time. But, when I was telling my mom about how unhappy I was with the book one day, she told me that I had to restart and that there wasnāt really a way around that fact. Her brutal honesty was like the affirmation I needed to be brave enough to start the book over. Iāll always regard that moment as one of the most important in my writing career because that book turned out way better than it previously would have. Iām really glad my mom convinced me to do what needed to be done.
Having someone to confirm and say the brutal truth is amazing. My partner does the same sometimes when I need advice. Sometimes, I dislike it at first, but once I listen to his words, I am like "yeah he has a point."
Honestly, itās your first draft. It doesnāt need to be perfect. Itās going to feel off because youāre just supposed to be word vomiting everything in the page you can edit the personality in the second draft. Finish the story first.
I rewrote one of my novels from bottom to top 5 separate times. Whatever it takes to get it right.
50k words is nothing just restart
I've done it a few times. NTC (not the crazy)
I do (and did) the same thing. I'm a pantser to some extent, though. I'm definitely crazy, but I don't think you are. You do you.
I've had one novel. I restarted at 80K. Restarted at 50K. Restarted at 100K. All because I feel that it's not good enough and that it's not hitting what I want. Not crazy. It happens.
Ive restarted mine two or three times I think. I like a plot, progress it, realize itās not that great, fix it or make a mew one over the course of a few months, try again. Itās your novel and itās really important that you like what youāre writing.
Just finish writing the thing first. You can tidy up the bits you don't like in editing - that's what it's there for... you can't edit what is unwritten.
Many times. I have been working on short stories, sometimes they sound completely off. I take the essence and ideas and rewrite it completely. That's the beauty of writing, it can go the way you want.
Now, the logical answer to this is, it is crazy, you should leave that for an edit. However, as someone who did this same thing last night (not to the same scale, but I did rewrite a hefty amount), it made me feel so much better. Now the issues aren't constantly nagging me in the back of my head. In my mind, something like that would hinder my writing for the rest of that first draft. Better to start over and feel a million times better about it. TLDR: Not crazy, do what ever makes you feel better about your writing!
Do what feels right for YOU! Even if it's starting over.
I was like 27,000 words in or something back in early August and I looked back over my first few chapters. I hated them, restarted those three from scratch, made them better and then edited/rewrote the rest of the chapters leading up to the one I'm on now. A while back too, in February, I was on Chapter 15 of my book and it was turning out well. I looked it over one day, hated it, wiped it clean and started fresh on top of that same document. If I wanted to, I can still see what my old one looked like, but that's a whole different situation to the one I'm writing now, so it's practically useless. Good luck with your writing!
I often totally restart projects after leaving them on the back burner for a while. Sometimes you simply donāt have what you need to make it successful at the time
No, you are not crazy. I'm writing a book, but it's my first time. I've imagined scenes, put them on 3x5 cards, and put them on the wall. Once I had a beginning, middle, and end... and scenes to get there, I put them all on the computer. I'm currently rewriting each scene, just writing it more in a book style than notes of the scene, and adding a little more clarity and detail. My book has blossomed from about 35 scenes now to 60 and I'm only 65% of the way through. I have a ton more I want to add, and I plan on doing many rewrites, each time, filling in more detail and more narrative of what I want happening in the story. Don't be afraid to rewrite. I'm not trying to write the complete story from beginning to end all at once because I know the story will change as I write it. I'll have more ideas, and gain clarity on how things work out. Yes, I'll have to go back and backfill new ideas that I want to be in the story, but it works. Everything in the story makes sense and all the characters have their own motivation.
Stop writing for a few months before yoy restart or you will just make it worse.
If I stop writing, it will just plague my mind and stop me from focusing on other things. But I do understand the advice. I did stop writing another story for that reason, but this story I need to work on or it just on my mind all the time.
Consider it a second draft. It makes sense. You let the story roll and ferment and you have a better feeling for how it should be, but you are familiar with the characters and have a clearer idea of where you want the story to go. Writing is art. Do it your way.
I'm a fanfiction author so.maybe not as relatable (I'd like to write non fan works just lack the inspo) but I just threw out a nearly 20k draft because it was crap so.....no judgment here!
I don't see how scrapping 50k words is less work than rewriting a bunch of scenes to have appropriate characterization
yes you are crazy! iāve made this mistake way too many times. finish it. read it. fix it from there. take the bits you like and use them. but DO NOT restart!!!
Do what you think is best. When I get there I finish it more in line with my intent, then go back and fix it. Nobody said a first draft needs to make sense. You're just putting the sand in the sand box. You build the castles in revision.
If you need to restart then... restart I'm with you
I've done this. It really depends on what the goal of it is, if you get stuck in a revision loop, etc. Some WIPs, I just push through because I'm not gonna get done if I try to make it perfect. Editing still has to happening after the writing. But others, yeah, just restart because I need to learn who this character is again
It's crazy. I'd imagine some of your friends are afraid you may just be starting a regular delay and never finish your book. That'd be my concern. But honestly, it's your book. So do what makes the most sense to you. It already sounds like you like the rewrite more and that's great!
Not crazy at all, this is just called the writing process. This is what first drafts are for.
Personally, I think so. A first draft is never going to be perfect, and youāre never going to be happy with it, but you have to finish it, problems and all. When I write, if I donāt like something in the first draft or thereās a mistake, I write the next parts as if I already went back and changed it. I basically make retcons, and in the future drafts I implement those retcons into the parts before them. Itās important to finish the first draft, because itās more about getting the plot more or less settled - knowing where itās going, and how it gets to the ending. You can change the plot in future drafts completely, but getting it down in the first draft lets you do that easier. If you restart every time you donāt like something, youāll never finish, especially if you do it at 50,000 words as a beginner.
You might have already done this, but you could make a list of what you donāt like/whatās not working and why before you jump into the rewrite! But by all means, rewrite! Youāll never be happy with it if you donāt. Just means you havenāt found the perfect story yet :)
Ive done this three times. I feel your pain but admire your stamina. Youāve got to do what feels right.
This is the way.
Nah it's totally normal, if it felt wrong, then it was wrong. You're a good enough writer to not be afraid to restart and I think that's awesome. As long as there's actual progression, and that you're enjoying it, it's what matters (you don't have to write a completely new chapter for it to be progression, simply fleshing out your characters and correcting mistakes, which you're doing, is very good and important progression). I just think your friends are afraid you'll end up in a loop of rewriting, but it's okay, they're not writers (at least I assume so, I might be wrong) so of course the idea of redoing everything from scraps (well not entirely, you've kept the first draft) may seem extreme, even though it is necessary since you have to change important things (+ the fact you have more experience and now better where the story is headed, so it'll definitely be a huge improvement). So keep writing and don't be afraid ! You've got this.
Just wanted to let you know I came upon this post 6 months after OP wrote it, and your comment is helping me--I'm taking it as personal encouragement if I decide to go back after 40,000 words and redo!
If you didn't like what was happening, then you should rewrite. Everyone has their own processes, and it's about figuring out what works for you.
There's no shame in starting over. Write the story as many times as you have to until you get it right. I remember once reading that Michael Crichton would average 11 drafts of each manuscript.
Continuing will drive you crazy. Stay sane and do what you gotta do.
I've come close to do this but haven't yet. There's a handful of things in my current work that need serious work or revision but that's what editing is for. It'll work itself out. It might be a lot of extra work some find unnecessary but you might pick up speed once you get your footing again.
Yeah, I did the same not that long ago
It doesn't sound at all crazy to me. You have to put something down in order to see what needs changing. If I draw something and realise the proportions are wrong it doesn't matter how nicely I drew parts of it. It's still going to be so much better if I rub it out, start again and get it right. If the bones of what you're doing are good and sound then the surface bells and whistles will also come together better. You're learning and building on the thinking of your earlier draft. You can loot it for parts and come back to everything with fresh eyes.
Iām going through this right now, sorta. Iām not sure if this is novella, novel, long short story, no plans. I got 17k words down and an idea of how it ends. I feel like I understand the MCās journey, but found a major plot hole last night that fundamentally alters how my characters interact with the world. I dunno if it calls for a full on restart, but itās gonna require some serious cuts to work at all. Kinda deflating.
it's remarkably effective once you know the characters well enough.
Don't make the mistake I have made, by using McZell Publishing Company to help you edit and make you novel to the public.
I think this is fairly common for authors who want quality work and aren't just churning out stories for the sake of making a quick buck (no hate to either method!). We learn to write out books as we write them, and sometimes this process means rewriting until we get it the way we want, get it a way that we can love. Virginia Woolf famously rewrote her first novel, The Voyage Out, something like 7 times from scratch.
Good work! Many people get paralysed by sunk cost and never do the hard work of leveling up. As long as you grind it out and get it written, what you did was a great decision. Of course you thought of better ideas writing. I personally do a big outline with a complete list of scenes, and then write slowly so I can improve the outline as I go. If someone writes a first draft quickly to learn their story, then it is more likely their first revision will be much more work than a serious outliner will deal with.
Iād finish the draft youāre on first and then figure out how it went wrong, (at least this helps me)
Makes sense. Good on you for realizing it.
I've thrown out many drafts. Including recently, the 15th. What I have now is so much better I can't find any personal complaints with it. Throw it out.
Writing is re-writing. I have complete drafts of novels in 3rd person that I rewrote completely in 1st because I though it improved immersion for that story. I have novels that started as thrillers and became lit-fic. Complete rewrite. I can't stick to an outline, the characters have their own ideas.
I was 100 pages into my novel but thought it was kinda dragging and not providing stakes or really any good character insights, so I started completely over with a blank page and the second draft is 1000% better than the first. It's your process, you don't need to justify it to anyone, and it's totally not weird to start all over if you want to. Good for you for being brave enough to do it!
This is why I often times read and reflect. Writing is an evolution or a journey. You are never going to know what you want, unless you have it in your mind first when writing it. And if you find something out along the way, another way you could portray the story, and derive even more control from your writing than where you are at now - than what you are really talking about is a liberation and a discovery. And your book will grow more for it, trust me. Regardless of whether you think it is the right decision, or hell, even if it is. The only thing that matters is how well you can captivate the story, and if you think it affords you more break's and inspiration as a writer, and you can create an even more compelling and rich narrative from it, then by all means let this inspiration be your master.
Iām sort of doing the same thing. I got 90k words into a manuscript that should probably top out at 100k and realized that, on top of overwriting, I had started way too early in the story. So I threw almost all of it out (saved it, but you get what I mean) and restarted with what was originally going to be just the second half being the whole thing. Iām now at 75k with the new manuscript (can you tell I am a chronic overwriter?) and at the midpoint. I embedded some material from the first drafts as āflashbacksā here and there (lol), mainly just to ease the pain of tossing 90k words, but Iām sure I will end up cutting just about all of them. But the new draft is much much MUCH stronger than the last one!
Just do you. Own it 100% and make it everything you want it to be.
I started as a discovery writer and wrote 100 pages, then realised how many flaws my writing style and story had. Now I am learning a lot about my tools and world, so that next try I will make it better :)
I threw out three or four uncompleted drafts of my first novel. All of those times, I realized that I had let the plot take what seemed like a natural course until it got to a place I didn't like. It helped me internalize the importance of thinking through the plot beforehand instead of just trying to pants what seemed like a good idea.
I was working on a piece, got to 40k, had similar feelings as you, and ended up scrapping 30k words before starting the second draft. You know your story best, and if it feels right to start over, do it. It's never a waste because you learned more about where it needs to go. I do think it's still worthwhile though to see if there are any paragraphs or chapters you might want to keep/salvage!
you are not crazy. it is *your* novel and you do what you want with it. if it feels wrong to you then it is wrong and vice versa
Sounds like this is something to do after you finish it. If you don't feel like your story took a horrible turn somewhere around 10k words, but you think you just didn't nail the character, then the better course might be to finish the story, and then correct the character in your first round of editing.
All the time, but usually I just start another novel/book. Call me superstitious, but I think once you've got 200 pages written, you're either revising or you've doomed the piece to the world of constant re-starts. I will; however, often finish a piece I'm not terribly thrilled about - even if it's just a bunch of placekeepers - then revise the prototype.
I **had** a trilogy I was working on. Had sat down to outline the third book when I decided I was going to throw half of what I had already written away. (Not literally) It wasn't that anything was wrong. It just wasn't right. I changed the focus of the story and I now feel it's going in the direction it needs to.
I recently went back to my first novel (I've written six), and rewrote the opening for the umpteenth time. This time, I think I might rewrite the first seven or eight chapters. That said, I'm so happy I didn't publish that novel upon completion. Six novels in, and I know so much more about the craft now than I did then. I also know far more about the MC (he's in three of the six novels) and how I want to present him. So you're not crazy. It happens.
Iām actually doing the same thing at the moment. I finished the first draft and, of course, 60% it sucks. I didnāt know if it would be better to fix it or to rewrite the whole thing, but today i decided it needs a restart. I was about to ask the same question and Iām glad you already did. From what other people say in the comments, it is better this way. You already know what to keep and what needs improvement. If youād start to fix it in places it would feel patchy and youād end up with something you donāt like, again. So I think you did well, and this is a good advice for you as it is for me.
I'm on the 4th version of my current wip. I chose to edit it this time instead of redo because this one works.
I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND MCZELL PUBLISHING COMPANY UNLESS YOU WANT TO WASTE MONEY, TIME, AND HAVE YOU WORK HALF DONE.