Starting Over

(This is yesterday's post. Issues made it impossible to post then. There will be another tonight)

6668 words is where you should be for NaNoWriMo.

I’m behind. Still. But, I now have a reason. Last night, I discarded all the words I had and started over. I’m at 3472 words in my new story, about the half the amount I need, but I’m confident I’ll catch up.

Today’s post is on starting over. Only ever do it if you really and truly hate everything or made a big mistake. I did- I hated my main character in two days flat. So I started over in the same world, with a very similar storyline, and some identical side characters. My main character is completely different.

Don’t be afraid to start over. Not everything you do is going to useable. However, I recommend against doing it if you usually have trouble finishing or if you’re far alone. I always used to do that. I was like, “Oh this is crap, make it go away.” I never finished anything. And then I did NaNoWriMo in 2007 and forced myself to write and keep writing and finished 50000 words of a novel. It was fabulous. The feeling mind you, not necessarily the writing.

Learn to differentiate between something that is truly crap and something that has potential. If you think in twelve revisions that your story might be good, keep going for it! If you think you’re staring down at the words, trying to find a way to kill of your main character and replace him, it may be time to start over.