Finished!!!

Maine2

New kid, be gentle!
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It took me longer then I had hoped but I finished my nano at just over 50,000. Now as I look it over something is bothering me. It isn't to different a story line from my WIP. You know for several years I would start writing a stories without completeing it. Then about a year and half ago now I started writing putting all my shorts together and I finished a horrible first draft. As I am looking at my nano I can see several ideas that can be incorporated into my WIP. It's almost like my WIP is haunting me begging to come out. I think it has great potential but at the same time I worry that I would not be able to do the story justice. Of course I started rewriting my first draft in october but took a break for nano. Now I am getting ready to restart because it is my priority but I am kind of stuck. It's almost like this story took another turn without my permission. I've never been one for an outline but now I think I am going to have to so that I can get this story straight and get it to behave. Any suggestion on how i can taime this wild beast. :Shrug:
 

Yeshanu

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I got stuck on one WIP for years. And years. And years.

My advice for you at this point would be to leave it alone for a bit, and do something completely different, something that you won't be able to incorporate into your current WIP in any way, shape or form.

I'm suggesting you do that because if you're like me, your very first novel idea is your "darling," the one that's going to make you pots of money (or so you hope), the one critics will say rivals Lord of the Rings (or other big name novel in your genre.)

The problem being, if it's your first novel, your skill level almost certainly does not match the story you want to tell, and it will never be perfect, and the longer you stay stuck on revising it, the less chance you have of ever getting it written, paradoxically.

What I'm doing, whilst writing other, lesser stories is learning about myself as a writer, what I do and don't do well, what I like and don't like, what I need to improve on. I'm also developing my skills to a much higher level than they were when I first started writing my darling. Plus I'm gaining confidence that I'm not a one-trick pony, and that I can write more than one novel (or series in this case) in my writing career.

When I'm ready, I'm going to go back and write that novel like I feel it should be written. Then I'm going to send it out and move on to the next project.
 

Maine2

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Thank you. I think you are right. That story is my baby and I want to be able to do it justice and write it the way it should be so perhaps I will move on and try to perfect this skill with a completely different WIP. This way I can come back to my baby later when I am ready. Thank you again