Beating a dead horse

kuatolives · May 30, 2008

Should you try and resurrect trunk novels or just let them stay buried in their coffins and keep stitching together new frankensteins?

I pulled a trunk novel out yesterday and started editing it. I cut fully half of the first third of the book (I'm only a third of the way through) and am
wondering if such massive cuts are a result of my improved eye or if I'm just cutting because of legacy fatigue with that particular work.

The shocking bit is after the cuts, my story still moves forward without any gaps. That probably says something in itself. But regardless, should you try and bring back these zombie novels or just move forward?

Mr Flibble · May 30, 2008

If nothing else, it's good practice.

I dug an oldie off my PC the other day, and gave it a read. The idea's sound, it's just the execution, so I think I'm going to see what I can do with it. If you don't try, you'll never know. And if it never flies, well the practice will do me good, I'm bound to learn something from it.

Mumut · May 30, 2008

I agree. I wanted to send a proposal to my publisher for an old work I've been working on from time to time. It's one of a series of four YA novels. So I re-read the other three. As with IdiotsRUs I found the story sound but even the punctuation has major flaws. So now I'm working on them all and I've sent three to the publisher for consideration.

kristie911 · May 30, 2008

It never hurts to give it a shot. If the story is sound, I'd say go for it. If the story itself sucks, then there's probably not much to work with.

Good luck.

Michael Davis · May 30, 2008

Why get rid of it if its a good story? If you mean it was rejected before, so what. I got over 100 rejections on my first story before I hit the right doorstop. I never toss old stories. My third novel was something I toyed with over 5 years ago. Go for it.

SPMiller · May 30, 2008

kuatolives said:
The shocking bit is after the cuts, my story still moves forward without any gaps. That probably says something in itself.

What you've said is that there's a story somewhere in the drek. Right? If so, and if you think there's enough meat on that story's bones, go for it. An old idea is just as good as a new one, as long as you still believe in it.

Straka · May 30, 2008

Right now I'm looking for forward at new projects to look back. But recently I've had the notion that those trunked works have good stories but its the voice that's off. I might go back and rewrite them completely at some point. I think that's the only way to get them ready at this point.

t0neg0d · May 30, 2008

Straka said:
Right now I'm looking for forward at new projects to look back. But recently I've had the notion that those trunked works have good stories but its the voice that's off. I might go back and rewrite them completely at some point. I think that's the only way to get them ready at this point.

I agree with this approach. If you know the story works, start with a fresh approach to the old idea. It is bound to read better than trying to continue with a voice you weren't happy with to begin with.

tehuti88 · May 31, 2008

I'm not sure what a "trunk novel" is so I'm just guessing based on the context...?

I have a boatload of old novels and unfinished stories that I hope to return to someday now that I know I could write them MUCH better. I cringe at how I wrote them...but I feel there are still decent story ideas there. So I see no waste of time in returning to something even if the way it's been pulled off so far is atrocious.

They're not dead horses, they just need to be put in shape.

Phaeal · May 31, 2008

I have no zombie novels. All my novels are sleek vampires nestled for the moment in their crypts and dreaming gorgeous dreams. When I wake them up, they'll tell me those dreams, and we'll be on our way to pumping some fresh blood into them.

In other words, if the idea was good to start with, resurrect away.

Kalyke · May 31, 2008

I think that if your skill level has gone up any, then it is not a bad idea. I put a bunch of work away when I did not really know what I was doing. I look at them today and find many still have merit, and are still within my area of interest.

The Grump · May 31, 2008

Zombies or Vampires? How about a mine where you can dig for good story lines and/or characters?

I've a file drawer of old stuff -- much from when I had to take everything off the dining room table every day. (For some reason, I never could get much more than short stories completed though I started several novels and outlined situations for others.) Now that I have a place to write where I can just leave my stuff, I'm finding the drawer a rich source of ideas. In fact, my work in progress is from a folder with a few thoughts on what gargoyles thought when watching from the church gutters.

As have others have mentioned in this thread, I find that my craft skills are much better now than when I started. Hopefully, this will make for less rewriting.

Danger Jane · May 31, 2008

I don't look over very old stuff, but the ideas stay in my head barring a freak accident, and it's the premises I'll rework someday, but the scenes or even the characters. It helps that I used traditional storylines, but I bet the clumsy way I treated them initially will help me handle them more deftly in the future.

Beating a dead horse

kuatolives

Gonzo Journalist

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

Mumut

Well begun is half done...

kristie911

Happy to be here

Michael Davis

SPMiller

Prodigiously Hanged

Straka

Bored Fanatic

t0neg0d

tehuti88

Mackinac Island Fanatic

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Kalyke

The Grump

Hates Marketing. Loves Writing.

Danger Jane