Realising that your novel is rubbish...

Alouette · Sep 18, 2011

Okay, so I'm about 30k through a manuscript which is the furthest I've ever got. I've learnt a lot through writing it and it's not that I don't know where to go in the story anymore or anything, it's just that I've realised that there are A LOT of problems with it and if I ever want to get it half decent I'd have to rewrite most of it. And what's more, I don't really enjoy writing it anymore and I keep putting off writing because I know there is so much wrong with it.

Meanwhile, I have another novel idea which has been brewing for a while that I really want to get started on. However, I feel so guilty for abandoning another project. I might be willing to go back to it but at the moment there is just so much wrong with it that I feel I have to leave it for a while.

Do you think I should leave it and write this other thing or should I persevere even though I know I'll have to change a lot and will probably struggle to write (and not enjoy it)? I just don't know. I want to finally finish something but at the same time I know the reason I want to leave this project behind (for a while) is different from the rest - it's not because of short attention span or running out of steam - there is just too much wrong with it.

alleycat · Sep 18, 2011

You'll probably get a variety of opinions; everything from "set it aside" to "finish what you start," but unless you have something of a compulsive personality to finish anything you start, you're not going to be able to make much headway with the way you feel about the novel now. Few things are harder than working on a writing project you've lost faith in.

So, I would say to set it aside (that's really what your heart is telling you to do). You might want to makes some notes to yourself while it's still fresh in your mind about what went wrong with this project.

megan_d · Sep 18, 2011

Even if you do decide to start over keep in mind that it's not unusual to hit a wall like this at the 20-30k mark. More than a few writers feel that their MS is a worthless pill of rubbish at this point, even if its not true. I would recommend forcing yourself to at least hit 50k, and then decide if the MS needs to be scrapped or if it can be salvaged.

alleycat · Sep 18, 2011

By the way, you don't need to beat yourself up if you do decide to set the work aside. I think it's much worse to say you want to write or do something, and never really make an effort.* In this case, you did the work; it maybe just didn't work out.

* There use to be an American TV show (Family) where one of the characters was a young man who wanted to be a great writer . . . only he never wrote anything. All he ever did was whine about how hard it was to write. If someone asked him why he hadn't written anything he would come back with some old story about some famous writer who spent weeks writing "one great sentence". Then he would go and not write some more and complain about people not understanding how hard it was to be a writer.

heyjude · Sep 18, 2011

Alleycat and megan are wise! It really is normal to feel that way at this point in your novel, but if the problems you're seeing are insurmountable-feeling, put it aside and try the new one.

If, however, you run into the same wall with the new one, you might want to take a look at your methods.

alleycat · Sep 18, 2011

And I don't necessarily disagree with megan_d. Sometimes it is just that; hitting that "mid-point" wall.

gothicangel · Sep 18, 2011

heyjude said:
Alleycat and megan are wise! It really is normal to feel that way at this point in your novel, but if the problems you're seeing are insurmountable-feeling, put it aside and try the new one.

If, however, you run into the same wall with the new one, you might want to take a look at your methods.

QFT.

I've just overcome this hurdle in my second draft.

I wonder though, have you ever completed a full novel before? Is this a case of 'shiny, new idea?'

megan_d · Sep 18, 2011

I think being able to tell the difference between hitting the wall and truly needing to scrap an MS is something that comes with experience. And, unfortunately for the OP, isn't something anyone else can determine for you.

Katrina S. Forest · Sep 18, 2011

I think you should do what you want. If you want to push forward with the old project, do it. If you want to trunk it and start with something else, do that. You're the author.

Goodness knows I've ditched many a novel after NaNoWriMo. In fact, only two out of seven have survived. ^_^;;

bearilou · Sep 18, 2011

Katrina S. Forest said:
Goodness knows I've ditched many a novel after NaNoWriMo. In fact, only two out of seven have survived. ^_^;;

Yeah but were they finished? There's a difference between finishing something and deciding it's not salvageable and being stuck at 1/3 the way through and not being salvageable.

To the OP:

While I agree it could possibly be a novel you end up having to scrap, I also think this is due to the mid-novel slump. It seems like I even read that it happens about (in NaNo terms of a 50K finish line) week two, which, if you do the math is around 23-34K word count.

I agree with megan_d. Try to get another 20K out and move past this slump and see if you feel the same way before scrapping the project all together.

ylrebmik · Sep 18, 2011

Literally, I had the same thread a few weeks ago.. I thought I was the only one! This is my second attempt at a WIP and I hit 36K and realized I was more focussed on hitting word count and writing everyday than quality.

I faced the same problem you're having, and everyone told me different things. So what I'm doing is plotting/organizing/outlining a little better, rewriting a few parts in the first half to make it decent, then writing the second half as if the first half is perfect. Then making it all come together in the second draft. It was advice someone gave me a few weeks ago that I thought was very wise, since I edit too much while I write!

Good luck to you!

Anne Lyle · Sep 18, 2011

Alouette, I had exactly the same problem for quite a few years - never got more than 20-30k before grinding to a halt and giving up. I still struggle when I reach the 1/3 to halfway point, because it's just plain hard to see your way through the middle to the ending, even if you have that ending clear in your mind.

The two things that got me through to the end of a novel were:

1. Doing NaNoWriMo - I brainstormed lots of scene ideas before I started, so I wouldn't have the excuse that I had nothing to write about, then I just wrote it without worrying if it was any good or not. (I eventually rewrote that book into the one I'm getting published.)

2. Eventually you'll find a story and characters that grip you and won't let go, and you'll move heaven and earth to finish it. That's how I got through the revisions that turned my messy NaNoWriMo draft into something publishable.

Just keep at it and you'll get there eventually!

Flicka · Sep 18, 2011

Like the others said, sometimes you get this feeling because it's unsalvageable, and sometimes it's just because you're at THAT place, because everybody* feels that way at least once. Nobody explained it quite as well as Neil Gaiman: http://www.nanowrimo.org/node/1065561

Sometimes it helps to put it aside for a while. It may not seem quite as bad when you come back - but sometimes it really is a hot old mess. Maybe you're just currently in a place where you need to take a step back to find out which.

*by everybody I mean to make a generalised statement that most people, or at least a majority of the people writing a novel, experience this. It doesn't mean that there are not those who don't.

ebennet68 · Sep 18, 2011

I was in the same spot you're in right now last year. I was a little further along than you are right now (40K or so) when I started thinking about doing Nanowrimo for the first time. I was so in love with the new idea that it was all I could think about. The trouble was that I already had so much time invested in what I was working on. I went ahead and wrote another 20K and finished it by the end of October right before Nano. I made these "deals" with myself that if I got some work done on the WIP, I was allowed to write short scenes and try out my new characters as a reward. That way, I still got the story done AND got to play around with the new idea at the same time.

C.J.Lindsay · Sep 18, 2011

Why don't you look for someone on AW to read over what you have so far, and while they're doing that, make a start on your other project? That way you can be free of guilt, knowing you're not just abandoning your original project.

Hopefully you'll come back to it refreshed, with a second opinion to help you see how to move forward.

Jamesaritchie · Sep 18, 2011

Finish it. No one ever became a writer by not finishing. So far, you don't know anything about writing a novel, you only know haw to write one third of a novel, and can't even be sure what's wrong, or how fixable it is, until you finish. You don't even know how well the beginning works until you write the ending.

And no matter how you feel about the great idea you have brewing, what makes you think it will be any different once the writing actually starts? Ideas are meaningless, no matter how wonderful they seem.

What happens when you get thirty thousand words into the next novel, only to find out it isn't going so well, either?

areteus · Sep 18, 2011

All the above is sage advice. One thing I would ask, have you had anyone other than you read your work so far? I have always found that feelings of inadequecy about a piece of work usually means it is time to get some of those early chapters to a critter for some independent advice. More often than not, I have had comments which said 'this is great, a few tweaks will make it better but keep going cos I want to learn the end!' and this for a story I've been thinking was a worthless piece of nonsense. The postive feedback is a great spur to carry on and finish.

If you are truly blocked on a piece, put it away and let it simmer for a bit in your brain while you work on something else. Then, chances are you will come back to it renewed and with fresh ideas.

gothicangel · Sep 18, 2011

Flicka said:
Like the others said, sometimes you get this feeling because it's unsalvageable, and sometimes it's just because you're at THAT place, because everybody* feels that way at least once. Nobody explained it quite as well as Neil Gaiman: http://www.nanowrimo.org/node/1065561

That is a great link. I feel so much better about my WIP now.

This is so me with my second draft at the mo:

By now you're probably ready to give up. You're past that first fine furious rapture when every character and idea is new and entertaining. You're not yet at the momentous downhill slide to the end, when words and images tumble out of your head sometimes faster than you can get them down on paper. You're in the middle, a little past the half-way point. The glamour has faded, the magic has gone, your back hurts from all the typing, your family, friends and random email acquaintances have gone from being encouraging or at least accepting to now complaining that they never see you any more---and that even when they do you're preoccupied and no fun. You don't know why you started your novel, you no longer remember why you imagined that anyone would want to read it, and you're pretty sure that even if you finish it it won't have been worth the time or energy and every time you stop long enough to compare it to the thing that you had in your head when you began---a glittering, brilliant, wonderful novel, in which every word spits fire and burns, a book as good or better than the best book you ever read---it falls so painfully short that you're pretty sure that it would be a mercy simply to delete the whole thing.

Alouette · Sep 18, 2011

Thanks for the replies so far everyone. It's nice to know that a lot of people have similar problems. No one has looked at it so far but I think the problems are mainly structural and I know a lot of it has to be cut. Also, because of the MC's background (it's first person) I have to write in quite a minimalist way which isn't my natural style and sometimes it feels quite forced.

I'm thinking that I won't abandon it as I think there ARE some bits which are salvageable, thinking about it, but I might take a break while I sort things out and work on plotting/outlining the other project so I'm doing something useful at least before I go back to it. Does this sound like a good plan?

bearilou · Sep 18, 2011

Alouette said:
Thanks for the replies so far everyone. It's nice to know that a lot of people have similar problems. No one has looked at it so far but I think the problems are mainly structural and I know a lot of it has to be cut. Also, because of the MC's background (it's first person) I have to write in quite a minimalist way which isn't my natural style and sometimes it feels quite forced.

I'll just caution you that it's easier to cut out than it is to add in once you're done with the novel. So don't worry so much about the cutting until you go into edits.

Also in reference to the structural problems. I've seen the advice on the boards to consider keeping the writing going AS IF you've already made the structural changes at the beginning (making sure to keep good notes!). Then when you get to the end and need to start your edits, you'll have a better idea of what exactly the structural elements are in need of revamping.

Just something to consider.

Alouette said:
I'm thinking that I won't abandon it as I think there ARE some bits which are salvageable, thinking about it, but I might take a break while I sort things out and work on plotting/outlining the other project so I'm doing something useful at least before I go back to it. Does this sound like a good plan?

Ultimately, you have to do what you think is best for your current and your future project. To echo JAR's advice, however, make sure it doesn't become a habit of stopping and swapping horses midstream. It will develop into finishing nothing but having a handful of half finished projects.

But sometimes, you do need to take a step back, piddle around a little bit with something different to get the noggin cleared before tackling it again. Following your best innate feelings on the subject is the best route.

nchahine · Sep 18, 2011

I'm going to advise something slightly different, though it's just my opinion: go ahead and trunk the first novel for now.

BUT, once you've done that, you've got to promise yourself that you're going to complete your second novel to the end, no matter how terrible it looks, or how much you want to give it up. If you feel you can keep to that promise and actually complete the second novel in a reasonable time frame, then you can always go back to the first story with a fresh eye.

Kitty27 · Sep 18, 2011

Finish what you start is my motto. I think that all of us hit the midpoint of a novel and the glamor has worn off. The hard work has truly begun and suddenly we're tired. Our lovely novel has turned into a frump with a bad attitude. We start coming up with excuses to stop the novel. We want to cheat on it or dump it for that alluring new WIP. I ignore this inclination(yes,it's hard to ignore that brick-house WIP leering at me) but I stick with the books I have selected.

I always find the middle of a book to be hard going. But I keep at it. I work through those chapters and scenes because I know that all of my books are going to hit that dull midpoint. If I stop every time,nothing will ever get finished and all I'll have is a a bunch of unfinished books. The boredom always wears off and my original enthusiasm comes back.

Now if a book truly doesn't work,then I suggest taking a break from it. But don't abandon it. You have to grind and keep at it.

Button · Sep 18, 2011

I think everyone's got a trunk novel. That novel you wrote the first time or almost completed, and realized how much work it would take to revise. I've got two.

I plan on going back and fixing them though, one day...

I've also got a lot of "3 chapter false starts".

It's normal.

I'm not ashamed to say that my next book I revised 100 times. It's now with beta readers and I've learned so much over the years that I'm already working on three other books (at the same time!).

Don't be afraid to trash a novel and start over. Hey, who hasn't? Write in a genre you love and with a book you enjoy. If you don't like what you're writing, that'll flow through your book.

Flicka · Sep 18, 2011

gothicangel said:
That is a great link. I feel so much better about my WIP now.

I'm glad you found it helpful! I always feel better when reading it. Makes me feel less alone.

James D. Macdonald · Sep 18, 2011

Before you do anything else, get and read a copy of The Unstrung Harp; or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey.

Realising that your novel is rubbish...

bad apple

Still around

Falling in the milk

Still around

Making my own sunshine

Still around

Toughen up.

Falling in the milk

DenturePunk writer

Fantastic historian

Dull Old Person

Avoids editing by procrastinating

figuring it all out

Toughen up.

bad apple

DenturePunk writer

Something should go here...

So Goth That I Was Born Black

Resident in Question

Dull Old Person

Your Genial Uncle