So your story, novel, or poem just isn't working like you'd hoped. When do you give up? Or do you ever actually give up, but rather just put one project aside to work on later? _________________ Violet "Violanthe" Kane
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I've had a tale where I'd written half the first page, stopped in mid-sentence then put it aside for a decade. One day, I picked it up and wrote the rest of novelette 'Autumn'...
I've driven others into the ground, writing and re-writing until I despaired of making progress. Another seemed to be going well, before I glanced through it, exclaimed, 'WHAT A LOAD OF ***! TOSH' and discarded entire ~30 k words. Another got stuck when the planning program I used to map the set became obselete.
At present, I must refrain from commenting on covers, openings & synopses as my exasperation over my stalled space-tale makes me sound like a thoroughly jaundiced Critic, defined as, Can't Write, Can Moan'....
Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 418 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:01 pm
Never quit! Never give up! Okay, that is not exactly true. I usually write the first draft to the end, and then give up if it doesn't go where I want. I always hope that it'll get better, and mostly it doesn't. _________________ Douglas E. Gogerty
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Around the Campfire
"No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space."
-James T. Kirk
Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 523 Location: Upstate New York
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:10 pm
I've heard that you should never give up on a piece of writing. However, I do think there are times it's best to set it aside and work on something else.
That's what happened with my fantasy novel. I wrote it, revised it, and then sent it out, but got no interest in it whatsoever. After being told by a few people who offered to read the first part that I should cut quite a bit out, and perhaps change the whole storyline, I decided to set it aside. I wasn't willing to change the story that much. Revision for clarification and tightening would be one thing, but changing the whole premise would be quite another.
So, the novel remains sitting in a binder. I did decide to work on poetry, to get my name out there and build some sort of list of publications. I know what some people feel about that - some have an "all or nothing" attitude, claiming that only novels are worthwhile. However, my poetry publications have led to illustration publications and now a publisher offering to publish a collection of my art and poetry. So I feel moving on to poetry right now was the right thing to do.
Basically, I didn't just move on to another project, I completely switched gears from prose to verse. Now I'm slowly moving back to prose. I even attended a local fiction writer's group recently, and got some decent feedback regarding one of my short stories. It's made me realise that the story could be great if I work on revising certain aspects of it.
As for poems that don't really work, I've had a few. Often times I can set them aside for a while, then come back to them and rework them and develop them into something that does work. At times my poems fully develop in one writing session, while at other times it might take days, weeks, or even months to complete a certain piece that just isn't coming together. That's why I typically have more than one poem "in the works" at any given time.
There are also a few completed pieces that probably don't really work, that I've stopped submitting. Some of these remain sitting in a folder, and might stay there until I can take a grain of an idea from the original concept and develop it into something better. At other times, pieces that might be decent but a little weak for submission go onto my blogs and onto forums.
Getting feedback regarding our weaker works can be more useful than receiving praise for our strongest works. _________________ "I'm going to do what the warriors of old did. I'm going to recite poetry!"
Never quit! Never give up! Okay, that is not exactly true. I usually write the first draft to the end, and then give up if it doesn't go where I want. I always hope that it'll get better, and mostly it doesn't.
Tough choices need to be made occasionally. I've just nixed three different full-length versions of a story because I was painting myself into a corner where I couldn't get out.
Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 418 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:41 pm
I do mean for short stories. You burn through it, and set it aside. Perhaps with a few edits later on, you can save it. After all, a good idea is a good idea. _________________ Douglas E. Gogerty
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Around the Campfire
"No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space."
-James T. Kirk
I do mean for short stories. You burn through it, and set it aside. Perhaps with a few edits later on, you can save it. After all, a good idea is a good idea.
Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 231 Location: Kent, England, U.K.
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:23 pm
It depends how passionate I am about the project. If I am having problems with the story I will put it aside and come back to it later. I have several projects I have been working on for years.
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