Trunk It?

ejwriter · Dec 10, 2009

so, i spent all last year writing a story i thought was pretty good. in fact, i still think the concept is great, and i apparently have a pretty damn decent query letter (although it has not made rounds). but the novel needs A LOT of editing. in fact, i'm starting to think it needs an entire rewrite, possibly a change from 3rd person to 1st.

i decided to let that first draft sit and stew before attempting an edit and, in the meantime, i started a new story during nano. i'm still working on this new one, but i can already tell it's much better than the first.

now i'm wondering if comparing your own stories to one another is how novels sometimes get trunked? you write something; you love it; but then you write something better and say - 'hey, that old thing i loved doesn't seem so great anymore.'
at that point, do you trunk it, or does it make you want to go back and edit it even more, until you love it as much as the shiny new story?

just curious. i'm on the verge of trunking, but i still really love the concept. wondering how others feel.

sorry if i rambled.

Maxinquaye · Dec 10, 2009

If you like the story, you do another rewrite, and you use what you've learned with the new story in the old.

dawinsor · Dec 10, 2009

Hm. I know the feeling. It's natural to have that high over the book you're currently immersed in. And you probably are getting better as a writer, which is excellent.

But I wouldn't trunk the first story yet. That cool feeling you have now may promote good editing.

Kalyke · Dec 10, 2009

Just let it stew a while and then go back and give it a look. I don't abandon a novel lightly. Too much work went into it to totally throw it away. I've also come back to look at a trunked novel years later to find that the writing is still good and it just needs a little work. Who knows, you might come up with the perfect plot twist in a year, and there it is, waiting to be finished. You might sell a few and then be pressed to come up with a book in a hurry, and there it will be, all ready for spit and polish. You never know.

ylrebmik · Dec 10, 2009

I'm in the same boat. and if you love it WRITE IT!

lucidzfl · Dec 10, 2009

How long have you let the book sit before revisiting it? I cannot imagine changing a book from third person to first person. It would pretty much invalidate everything of the story imo.

NeuroFizz · Dec 10, 2009

I have never trunked a story. I use the trunk for storing blankets that I can pull out when the writing goes gelid.

JamieFord · Dec 10, 2009

Trunk it.* For now, anyway. If you can see the difference between then and now, chances are you're growing exponentially as a writer--which is a fantastic thing. It's like playing the piano, you'll benefit in the long run by moving on to harder songs, don't keep playing the same old tune, even if it sounds better.

*If you do go back to it, try tightening up the 3rd person POV, as tight as you can get and see if that doesn't do the trick--rather than switching to 1st person, which is probably more work than necessary.

job · Dec 10, 2009

I have trunked two or three reasonably good, finished manuscripts. I look at this as part of the learning process.

In each case, it was easier to write a new manuscript than to go back and rework what I had. Story problems, basically.

If there's not a central story or plot problem and you've only done the first draft, I'd stick with the manuscript.

Phaeal · Dec 10, 2009

If you've only done a first draft of the trunk candidate, do revise it. Revision is an integral part of the novel writing process, one you need to learn by doing. And doing. And doing.

How hard it would be to change from third to first person depends on how deep your third person penetration was -- how fully the POV character's thoughts and emotions informed the prose. The deeper the penetration, the easier the switch.

PeterL · Dec 10, 2009

Rewrite

DeadlyAccurate · Dec 10, 2009

lucidzfl said:
How long have you let the book sit before revisiting it? I cannot imagine changing a book from third person to first person. It would pretty much invalidate everything of the story imo.

Nah. Sometimes what you realize is that you were fighting the other POV anyway. The book that landed me an agent was the one I switched from 3rd to 1st about 1/3 of the way through.

James D. Macdonald · Dec 10, 2009

I've changed books from third to first, and from first to third. The only draft anyone sees is the last one.

Monkey · Dec 10, 2009

Rewrite it. If you've gotten all the way to the query letter and the concepts in your book still make your heart flutter, then it's worth a rewrite.

Two caveats:

1. If you were so in love with the concept that the point of the book WAS the concept, and not the characters, then you might find you have a lot more rewriting to do than you thought.

2. Personally, I've trunked it several times. I'm still growing as a writer, so if I write something and it doesn't sell, or if I'm just not happy with it, I trunk it and go on to writing something better. Maybe the best idea is to learn from your mistakes and let go of the past... Bet your next book'll be better!

Caitlin Black · Dec 10, 2009

I've trunked 2 "novels". Except I was only about 4k in when I realised they sucked, so it didn't matter so much (I was trying something new and it didn't work).

I'd edit before changing POV. If you change POV you'll still need to edit it later on, so you may as well see what editing will do for your current draft.

But in the end, one way will work better than any other, and it's going to be a tough call. If you do switch POV, rewrite it in a separate file. NEVER delete what you've already written. Remember, even LotR would've been less than 1MB on a computer. You have plenty of space for safety and/or sentimentality.

Nateskate · Dec 10, 2009

A great idea is a wonderful thing. I'm not sure what your answer is. But it sounds like you should allow feedback from some Beta readers.

A really great story is worth revising if you can do it.

scope · Dec 10, 2009

The fact that your first work needs a lot of revision is not for me reason enough to trunk it. As we all know, the art of writing is always rewriting. However, I can't overlook what you said about your second work. Now I know how hard it is for us to look at our works with pure objectivity, but we have to do the best we can. I would say if you truly believe a completed second work would definitely be better than your first-even when completely rewritten-than proceed with the second and trunk the first. If you're uncertain, then I would suggest going with the first and revising it.

kaitie · Dec 11, 2009

I'm in the rewrite crowd. Most books need a lot of revision to make them good enough to submit. That's pretty normal, I think, and I completely agree that it's something you'll have to do so you should get used to doing it, and at the very least it's good practice. I've known a couple of people who could write pretty good drafts, but once it was finished never could work up the motivation to do rewrites.

I also know that personally, I tend to get back into the story even when I'm changing a lot and uncertain about it. I love the one I'm currently editing and the characters, and no matter how frustrating it gets, that really doesn't change, so you might find some of the old love coming back. I say this even as yesterday I was sitting there thinking, "Eh, I'm not happy with these two scenes and even though some kinda important stuff happens I'm thinking of just tossing them completely," and today I got to the next scene and was like, "hey, this is fun!" again.

So seriously, it'll come back.

Carlene · Dec 11, 2009

Me too - I agree with the crowd. Never give up! Let it set then go back and rewrite until it's as good as you can get it. I started as a freelance writer so always have several projects going at once. That's how I came to have three books and a novella coming out in January 2010.

Carlene

Stormy Love
The Worst Evil
Mind Echoes – out Jan 2010
www.whiskeycreekpress.com

Call Sign: Love
The Colors of Death
An Extra Pair of Eyes – out Jan 2010
www.writewordsinc.com

FINDER! – out Jan 2010
www.wildchildpublishing.com

Mysterious Gift – TBA
www.cobblestone-press.com

Trunk It?

ejwriter

lurk & learn

Maxinquaye

That cheeky buggerer

dawinsor

Dorothy A. Winsor

Kalyke

ylrebmik

lucidzfl

Back from the dead

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it

JamieFord

giving resonant directions

job

In the end, it's just you and the manuscript

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

PeterL

DeadlyAccurate

Absolutely Fazed

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Monkey

Is me.

Caitlin Black

Wild one

Nateskate

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

kaitie

With great power comes

Carlene

New kid, be gentle!