The Writing A Better Book Thread

gothicangel · May 5, 2011

It's official, the book I was working on is trunked. Not sure if I'm just burnt out from finishing my degree, or I edited to death but the reality is that I've tried and can't get excited about the book anymore.

What has happened is that I am excited about this other idea. An historical novel set in Roman Britain in AD 162 about the retreat back from the Antonine Wall.

So is anyone else in the same position? Anyone else out there trying to write a better book?

Fiona · May 5, 2011

There is no harm in trying your other story. Sometimes it's just a break we need... to snap out of that mindset.
Maybe by persuing something else, your other story, you might be able to eventually revisit your novel and see it through fresh eyes. If you still don't like it when you do revisit, then maybe it's just something you can keep for your eyes only.

Just remember, even if you leave it, it was never a waste of time. Everything you put down on paper is helping you grow and learn as a writer.

If you're excited about your new idea, go for it! Good luck

Jamesaritchie · May 5, 2011

I always try to write a better book, but if I trunked every novel I was no longer excited abut, I'd still be unpublished. All novels are exciting at first, and darned near all of them lose their luster before being published.

Libbie · May 5, 2011

Meh -- I'm always trying to write a better book. Around the time I finish one book or short story, I can't get excited about it, then I try to revise it because I know I should, and I end up hating it even more, and deciding my next idea will be worth getting into. Then the same thing happens with that idea.

The circle of life.

Anyway, what's nice is that months later when I go back to something trunked because I hated it, it always turns out to be a lot better than I remembered. Usually I end up liking it again, and being glad I've got something so nice all finished up. So put your finished novel aside for now, work on a new idea, and give the old one a read several months down the line. I bet you'll find it's a lot better than you think it is.

AlwaysJuly · May 5, 2011

I put my "OMG if I read this again one more time I'm going to cry" novel aside and just came back to it recently. Now I'm excited about it again. Personally, I think it's important to finish the damn thing no matter how sick of it you are, but since you've done that, you can put it aside for a while and work on shiny new project. Like Libbie said, it will probably look a lot better when you've taken a break.

Phaeal · May 5, 2011

Jamesaritchie said:
I always try to write a better book, but if I trunked every novel I was no longer excited abut, I'd still be unpublished. All novels are exciting at first, and darned near all of them lose their luster before being published.

Alas, too true.

My first novel (high school) has disappeared. My second is trunked, but I think I'll get back to it eventually.

My current WIP was trunked for ten years, but I never considered it dead. When I got back to it, I saw its flaws clearly and had a much better structural/thematic plan for it. I should have it done and out by June, and that will feel so good -- I hate abandoning work.

So my advice would be to trunk, but keep that novel safe and go back to it after a while.

A few months could suffice -- you don't have to wait ten years.

Soccer Mom · May 5, 2011

Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. After letting a novel sit, the editing is much less painful.

I almost never trunk a project. I hate every novel when I'm traversing the middle. I get excited again by the end. The first editing pass is a breeze. By the time I'm doing line edits with my editor, I hate the novel with the white hot passion of a thousand suns. By the time it's finally published, I'm pleasantly suprised that it isn't horrible.

But there are the occasional projects which never come together for whatever reason and clutter up my thumbdrive.

gothicangel · May 5, 2011

Fiona said:
There is no harm in trying your other story. Sometimes it's just a break we need... to snap out of that mindset.
Maybe by persuing something else, your other story, you might be able to eventually revisit your novel and see it through fresh eyes. If you still don't like it when you do revisit, then maybe it's just something you can keep for your eyes only.

Just remember, even if you leave it, it was never a waste of time. Everything you put down on paper is helping you grow and learn as a writer.

If you're excited about your new idea, go for it! Good luck

I feel really burnt out right now. I might go back to it one day.

gothicangel · May 5, 2011

Phaeal said:
Alas, too true.

My first novel (high school) has disappeared. My second is trunked, but I think I'll get back to it eventually.

My current WIP was trunked for ten years, but I never considered it dead. When I got back to it, I saw its flaws clearly and had a much better structural/thematic plan for it. I should have it done and out by June, and that will feel so good -- I hate abandoning work.

So my advice would be to trunk, but keep that novel safe and go back to it after a while.

A few months could suffice -- you don't have to wait ten years.

It's a 'first novel' that I've been working on for years, I think I've got to a point where 'enough is enough.'

I think for now I need to move on to improve. Hopefully I'll improve, get this one published and go back to the first one and work out what has gone wrong.

It's strange. I can't get the imagination going on the first book, but this new one has it running riot.

swvaughn · May 5, 2011

gothicangel said:
So is anyone else in the same position? Anyone else out there trying to write a better book?

Ooh! Me! *raises hand*

I burned out not only on my previous WIP, but my entire genre. I just can't stand it any more. So I'm doing a total reboot -- new genre, new name (I can't use mine any more, anyway), new writing habits, new attitude. I am in the process of reinventing myself. So far, so good... or at least much better than "abject despair," which is where I was with my last effort.

Your WIP sounds awesome! Good luck with it.

gothicangel · May 5, 2011

sonya bateman said:
Ooh! Me! *raises hand*

I burned out not only on my previous WIP, but my entire genre. I just can't stand it any more. So I'm doing a total reboot -- new genre, new name (I can't use mine any more, anyway), new writing habits, new attitude. I am in the process of reinventing myself. So far, so good... or at least much better than "abject despair," which is where I was with my last effort.

Your WIP sounds awesome! Good luck with it.

Same here, the previous WIP was a crime novel and this one is historical.

Soccer Mom · May 5, 2011

Sounds like you might have just "outgrown" that first novel. Enjoy your new project. There's nothing like that new novel love.

gothicangel · May 5, 2011

Soccer Mom said:
Sounds like you might have just "outgrown" that first novel. Enjoy your new project. There's nothing like that new novel love.

Yes, I think I have.

The Writing A Better Book Thread

gothicangel

Toughen up.

Fiona

The Banishing, Released March 2011

Jamesaritchie

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

AlwaysJuly

slugging through

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

gothicangel

Toughen up.

gothicangel

Toughen up.

swvaughn

adrift

gothicangel

Toughen up.

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

gothicangel

Toughen up.