Throwing away half a book. Am I nuts?

yoshinocho

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Hello,

So I wrote approximately 200 pages in the past three weeks (!) only to realize that the story wouldn't work with the POV and structure I had started with.
I'm a pantser, usually, so in the process I learned what my story is ABOUT and was able to write a detailed summary of the entire book I want to write and have started anew.

Anybody else throw away a large amount of work once you realize what the right track is?

Please tell me I'm not insane for doing so.
 

Introversion

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Ha ha, if you’re insane, you’ve got company in the asylum. :ROFL:

A few years ago I trunked about 60,000 words on a novel when I realized that I really didn’t have a clue how to wrap it up. I might dust it off some time and see if there’s bones I can salvage. The world-building I did is probably worth reusing for another go, if not the plotless plot I threw at it. ;)
 

Fiender

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Be sure never to actually delete any large amount of writing that you've decided (for the moment) doesn't work ;P
But also, don't feel bad about it. I've trunked several novels because they just weren't working, and I've performed heavy revisions on 'completed' novels to get them to a point where I liked them.
 
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neandermagnon

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Hell yeah. I've trunked loads of things. Entire chapters, entire stories. Scrap and redo. Or scrap and yeah, I'm never going to make this work - I don't even want to write it any more - I'll think I'll write a different story. I'm pretty sure I've trunked over a million words. Thing is, none of those words are wasted. It's all experience and practice that improves your ability to write. Trunked versions of a story were necessary to make the new version what it is. Trunked stories were necessary to make the next story better written. When it comes to concert pianists, no-one ever questions the idea that said concert pianist will have played that piece of music thousands of times before playing it in a concert hall, and played countless other pieces of music over and over again while learning to play. But for some reason, people have this idea that writers just churn out a completely finished and perfect book first time.

I do agree with the advice to not delete stuff but to keep them in a folder. In addition to having a special file for trunked stuff, I have a file within each novel (I use Scrivener which comes with helpful things like this) where I keep deleted scenes or other large chunks of deleted text, in case I change my mind and want to put them back. Or I might cherry pick them for good sentences or lines of dialogue when rewriting the scene.

The biggest "scrap and redo" was over 100,000 words long. I don't even know what the biggest "scrap and yeah, this ain't going to work" is because I don't want to open the files and cringe at how badly written they were but I suspect at least one of them was similarly long.
 

gothicangel

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My current book is basically a trunked novel from twenty years ago. Apart from genre and three characters, I am throwing away the whole book!
 
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ConnorMuldowney

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When I was 18, I wrote a whole novel because I was terrified of being 40 and still trying to become a writer with kids and a full time job and no time (not that you can't be 40 and write, but I had a lot of perspective to develop as a teenager). Trouble is, when I was 18, I was an emotional wreck and a bit of a moron. A few years later, I threw away the whole book, all 67,000 words of it. I won't go into details about why it was bad, it was just absolutely ridiculous, and also tried to say something about immigration because I thought I was deep, but I didn't have anything genuine to say on the subject. I don't regret throwing the book out. I'm proud I made it at all, but maturity sometimes means moving on. The fact that you recognized yours wasn't working means you have not only talent, but taste. Not sure how old you are, but by this post you seem to be at a stage in your writing where you've developed a sense of what works and what doesn't. That's a really, really good thing.

From what you are saying, it's just a perspective change, but you still have so much content you can use and work with. That's really not too drastic.

The indomitable C.S. Lewis once said Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn, then to go forward does not get you any nearer.
If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.
 
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Chris P

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Yep, I've cut out significant portions of books. I had one book that had a huge shift in the middle. In my first run at it, the two halves were connected in that they reinforced the same point and themes that I was trying to make. But the shift was too great; people who were interested in the first part were not going to like the last, and people who would like the last weren't going to make it the parts they would like.

So, I now have two books. I wrote a new first half to the original last half, keeping the genre more or less the same. I was in the process of writing a new ending to the original first half when I lost steam on both projects. But, people suggested originally that I might have two books in the original project, which was indeed the case.
 

jennontheisland

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There's some famous old writer who apparently always discarded his first draft and then rewrote the story because he would remember anything good and worth keeping, and anything he didn't remember shouldn't be there anyway.

90k, trunked nearly 10 years ago. I remember some of it, but not sure there's enough....
 

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I used to take pride in cutting out huge swathes of writing, but I've had to do that less and less the more I plot. It took me a long time to learn to plot. It felt so unnatural.
 
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bearilou

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I've trunked a few books in the years. Sometimes I'm not at a point where I'm ready to write it.

And sometimes, the story just isn't for me.

I tend not to cut out large swaths of my books, though. I usually stay on course when I'm writing.

I have trashed and restarted a book or three when I was clearing my throat with a new project.

I figure it's all part of the writing process.
 
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I think there are those who would say there are few writers without a trunkful of set aside material. I embrace the idea of never deleting that work. Even so, the majority of those projects may never ever see the light of day in a different incarnation.

If nothing else, looking over work created years ago gives a writer a sense of the curve of their improving craft.
 
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WriteMinded

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I wrote a 140k word novel. The first half, IMO, is lovely. The second half I've rewritten three times, edited over and over, added and deleted chapters until my hair is falling out, but I'm just not happy with it. One option is to cut out the last half and tuck it away in a folder somewhere, jump to the next book in the series and hope that bits of backstory will fill in the gaps. Another alternative is to make two books of it, but that might only add to the problem. Unfortunately, I have not figured out the right track yet. Maybe we are both insane? I think there is a special loony bin for writers. In any event, I feel I may get there soon.
 

Laer Carroll

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Failed & unfinished stuff is often treasure for me. Sometimes I'll remember a character or a place from them which is perfect for a current WIP. One book which I quit several years ago I realized one day just how I went wrong & became excited. The finished work is now online and making hefty sales. So save you failed stuff. What was a failure then may be a success now.
 
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micahkolding

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I've absolutely done this; I have one novel that I've nearly finished and entirely thrown out three times before I completed a draft. The story goes through a certain chrysalis each time, and it's gotten to the point where I feel like a project isn't worth pursuing if it hasn't been burned to the ground at least once.
 

TCMaynard

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Hello,

So I wrote approximately 200 pages in the past three weeks (!) only to realize that the story wouldn't work with the POV and structure I had started with.
I'm a pantser, usually, so in the process I learned what my story is ABOUT and was able to write a detailed summary of the entire book I want to write and have started anew.

Anybody else throw away a large amount of work once you realize what the right track is?

Please tell me I'm not insane for doing so.
I think 200 pages in 3 weeks is quite a bit. You could always let it stew a little longer, and come back to it later. It sounds like you're sure with the (new) direction you want to take, however. That's good!
You're definitely not insane. I think very few of us will have never discarded large portions of work. Sometimes you need to write a bunch before, as you put it, learn what your story is "about".

Good luck!
 
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TheKingsWit

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Hello,

So I wrote approximately 200 pages in the past three weeks (!) only to realize that the story wouldn't work with the POV and structure I had started with.
I'm a pantser, usually, so in the process I learned what my story is ABOUT and was able to write a detailed summary of the entire book I want to write and have started anew.

Anybody else throw away a large amount of work once you realize what the right track is?

Please tell me I'm not insane for doing so.

Hah, this is an established part of my process at this point. It freaked me out the first few times but now, meh, it happens, it’s just part of a first draft. It’s why I have a bunch of files labeled ‘draft 1.5’. I’m not even a panster, *shrugs*.

The first time, about 35k in, switched from first person to third person and added in a second pov character and related, parallel storyline.

Second one? About 25k in Cut out 2 of the 3 pov characters, their entire storylines, and reworked them remaining pov character and storyline to carry an entire novel alone.

Most recent dump, 30k in, switched from third limited to first person, changed the setting, ripped out a subplot and replaced it with a different one and added a new element to the central through line.

The drafts get finished eventually, and are much better than if I’d tried to stick with what wasn’t working. Besides, I often find it easier to rewrite than to first draft.
 

jhe1valu

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Just this week, I had to "trunk" a whole chapter (appx. 6K words) from my second novel, and I believe it is one of the best things I've ever created; it just didn't fit the flow. I've told the primary elements as backstory in succeeding chapters in a much crisper and tighter format; the basics are covered, but the carcass remains as a potential short story. Anybody need a piece of erotica tentatively titled "The World's Greatest Wet Dream"?
I've got a trunk out in my garage that hasn't been opened in about 40 years; I'm scared to do it now!
 
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Hello,

So I wrote approximately 200 pages in the past three weeks (!) only to realize that the story wouldn't work with the POV and structure I had started with.
I'm a pantser, usually, so in the process I learned what my story is ABOUT and was able to write a detailed summary of the entire book I want to write and have started anew.

Anybody else throw away a large amount of work once you realize what the right track is?

Please tell me I'm not insane for doing so.
My partner does that for every book. And she's written at least a dozen books that way.

She sits down with a single 'something' - a character, an action, a line of dialogue, a visual. She writes. She thinks, imagines, creates, at the keyboard. Her first (in honesty, 'zero') drafts kind of wander round till she's got a better grasp of the character and plot and setting, and the scenes and prose get tighter and more meaningful as, somewhere between half and a third of the way through, she figures out what the ending should sort of be, and she works her way towards that. If she's writing full time, she'll belt it out in about six weeks. Her first drafts average 180K words.

Then she reads it, figures out who the character ought to have been at the start, figures out what the plot actually ought to be, figures out what the arcs need to be.

Then she puts the first draft into a folder and never looks at it again.

Then she sits down with a blank document and writes the story that is now in her head.

I'd estimate about 2% of her actual text -- a really good line of dialogue, or a spectacular phrase describing the setting, or a perfect metaphor -- gets carried over word-for-word from the first draft to the new version.

You're not throwing away anything. It's not like you've forgot the story you started creating, or didn't gain in craft whilst writing those 200 pages. It's all been improving your writing and creating grist for the ideas-mill.
 

Nether

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My process is I finish it anyway then hope to fix it down the road :LOL:

However, if something isn't working in the first 5-10k words, I'll usually make a change at that point (which I have) or shelve it. If I'm halfway through, I'm just finishing it because I draft quickly and worry if I start putting half-written things aside, I'll slip into old habits where I got nothing done.

I sometimes make changes as I go along. For a fantasy novel I wound up hating midway through, I shortened the rest of the book and changed a few closing sequences. That manuscript was rough, though. Having got through that, I figure I could get through anything.

For my homeless ghosts novel, I realized I was spinning my wheels midway through and had bungled most of the plan. I still closed it out (giving it a variation of the intended ending, although taking different steps to get there).

My most recent "Yeah, this is going to take some fixing" manuscript was my last WIP, the MG fantasy. However, I went into that knowing I'd probably have to make heavy revisions because I wanted to do a lot of market research. (That I want to be particularly careful with prior to querying because MG is notoriously hard market to self-pub in (and it's outside the wheelhouse of my normal manuscripts which is a second knock on it), so I'll likely take as much time as possible with the novel... although, at this point, I've been dragging my feet with everything.)

(Also, I noticed these recent responses are to a topic started in 2020. Is this one of the general discussions where that's cool or something where we're not supposed to do that?)
 

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(Also, I noticed these recent responses are to a topic started in 2020. Is this one of the general discussions where that's cool or something where we're not supposed to do that?)
Oh, crikey, I didn't even realise this was a necro thread :(
 

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Does it matter? There are lots of necro threads here after the long shut-down.
It sometimes does to the mods. And to newbies who get mad that the OP doesn't respond to them, not realising the OP fell off the planet a decade ago or whatever.
 
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