carry on or start afresh? what would you do?

yippee kye yay

im after a bit of advice.
im 40,000 words into my first novel (a crime novel) and work is slow as im still not 100% clear on events which i am due to write in upcoming chapters. i also need to go back to the 5,000 word point and rework a characters involvement in the story; which means the following 35,000 words need to be altered too!
ill admit, im starting to get disheartened at this point and havent done any work on this in weeks!

last night i had a dream of my next novel; a ghost story with a bit of a difference. this dream told me everything from characters names and ages to the settings and everything inbetween.
i dreamt the whole story and have spent the morning writing up all my notes, ive even planned my chapters (which i never do).

my question is, under these circumstances would you carry on with my current project or would you push it aside and concentrate on this new 'dream' project?

if i start the new one am i going to set myself on a path of never finishing anything? or is it going to help me by getting this crime novel out of my head, which it has occupied for the 6 months or so, in the hope that a break from it will refresh my mind and help me look at it from a new angle?
and in the meantime i can start work on my new project which i should be able to finish as i already know how it starts and ends as well as the whole bit inbetween.

what would you do?

dorothyd

I would put the crime novel to one side. Because ... you are not sure where it is going. I'm not an advocate of plotting a book but with crime you need to plot it very tightly, every chapter needs to be outlined so you know where people are and where they are going and what they are doing at any given moment, because it throws the storyline out if you slip up. Now. if you have a first class idea for something else, and can write it without problems, go do it. We all write stuff we can't use when we begin anyway, leave it, it won't go away if it is meant to be written but a break will do you good and you will see its flaws and its good points more clearly from a time distance.

casey

Clearly the new projects excites you. Do what excites you - you're most likely to do it best.

Don't beat yourself up for not finishing the first novel. View it as a work in progress that needs to ferment for a while until it's ready to burst forth. You will know when. Good luck with your writing. Keep us updated with your progress.

Carol

Agree with what has been said already, get on with this new project, and in the meantime allow your brain to work on the difficulties you are having with the crime novel. I know from experience when you go back to it you will probably be clearer and ready to continue.
A writer's mind works in lots of different ways without being aware of it.

flyingtart

Yes, I agree too. If you try to force yourself to plod on with the crime story you'll only procrastinate and make yourself miserable. Put it aside and take another look in a few months' time - you'll be surprised what a difference it can make.

Lou Treleaven

Do the new novel! Then go back to the old one when you've finished the first draft. You'll need a break from that one by then. I often work on several projects at once. The important thing is not to feel guilty, but enjoy the flow of this new idea - it sounds like it's going to be great so go for it!

thaddeus

Hello there

I would say that you are well placed to set too on the new project, as you plainly know its structure . Form what you have said, that is not true of the current story.

Which is all fine, so long as this is not a method of avoiding finishing the first story.

Good luck. Martin

boredrobots

I'm on the fence with this one.
I've got to about the same point in my current WIP (around 35,000 words) and I'm hitting a wall.
I don't know where it came from (as is always the case), but another amazing idea come to me regarding a whole new book idea. It's in a genre i've never tried but all the characters and motivations come flooding out of nowhere. The problem is, if I start this one I know I might never go back to my original WIP.
I'm trying to juggle both at the moment, whenever inspiration hits me.
I agree with what people are saying about excitement, it's better to write the story you can get excited about. Just be wary that it's not false excitement because its a new idea. I've fallen into that trap many times, each new idea is 'soooo amazing it blows the last one out of the water', except (for me) it's not. It's just the excitement of a new idea, a fresh genre and the chance to develop characters and structure from scratch that gets me going.
Use the excitement to get as much of the new story structure and ideas down, as quick as you can (that's what I did). Then if it is just new idea excitement then you have a hefty starting point for when you feel you are truly ready for the new story.

Good luck with both stories! :D

Daisy

I think I would put the first one on hold and write the all-planned-out one. Sounds like you know where you are going with it and so are very likely to finish it. While you are writing it you might find your ideas for the first book develop better. I don't think it really matters though. Write what you feel inspired to write.

Jay Mandal

Looks like it's all been said. :) Best of luck!

Dwight

Sorry, YKY (what a great name), I have to disagree with most and agree with BR. Putting your crime book aside could be a disaster. You have got probably half your first novel behind you, but where are you with your new great idea: not even into Chapter One. Pause for short example of what might be required:

Yesterday I realised that a key character in my novel didn't say enough in my first chapter, and needed to say something of consequence. I felt this was going to be a tough one to solve, since the chapter was nicely rounded as it was, but it would have to be changed since the shortcoming was glaring and wouldn't have got past an editor. So I spent last night ploughing through my last chapter, where this character says loads, noted down all his dialogue on paper, and wrote notes beside his utterances. I soon had four things he said which could echo something he might have said in chapter one (where the scene is in the same location, in a full circle plot). It wasn't long before I had decided what to include, for plot reasons, and this morning I added the new dialogue into chapter one. What a weight off my mind; I had smashed straight through what felt like a nasty obstacle.

My point is that you need to overcome these problems if you are to write a complete book. Your new idea book will include similar problems, or obstacles which turn out to be even harder to overcome. I find it helps to have an author I admire in mind, and to imagine what they would do when faced with immovable objects. They work hard and smash through them, of course. My 'author of the month' is Bill Hussey, who Tracy interviewed in her blogsite a month or so ago. He explains how he wrote his YA horror yarn - his first - in four months, I think it was, and has two more well on the way since. This is a rate of hard work, which is the way to view it if you are keen to be published. And obstacles MUST be overcome if you are to meet deadlines, etc.

Unless of course publication is not the aim. Maybe you are enjoying your writing as a creative hobby, in which case there is no need to be so serious about it. I would note down your brill new idea, perhaps in some detail, telling yourself that come the weekend you will be back to work on your WIP.

Hope all that helps :) .

Stirling

I'm with BR and Dwight. 40,000 is notorious as the point when things start to flag.

Maybe put it aside for a few weeks and start planning the next novel and/or write a synopsis. I'm the same, I've set my novel aside to write a different project.

Dorothy is right, writing crime novels has unique problems.

Good luck.

yippee kye yay

thank you everyone for your comments, some good points have been made.

under normal circumstances i would shove the crime novel in a drawer and start with my new project, however this crime story was a bit of a turning point for me. i have started many 'books' before but have never finished one!
i have always used my writing as an hobby, sort of an outlet from my day to day life. but starting this crime book was when i finally decided to take my writing seriously with a view of being published. i even wrote myself a schedule of times i had free to write, as opposed to whenever i got the need and it did work well, until now!

with the story i do know all the important events that are going to happen, im just finding it hard to get it written down. the writers block, if you wish, started when i realised the mistake i had made by having a character about from such an early point, when she shouldnt have come on to the scene until much later. because of this i have to rework all i have done so far to have her weave in and out at the correct times aswell as rethink my future chapters in regards to her involvement!

i decided to print everything off last night for a full read through of what i have so far in the hope that things will be clearer for me. of course this would be the day that my trusty (no, thats a lie, its always been rubbish), old printer would die on me! grr! so i'm still none the wiser!


my husband suggested i give myself a month to try and get myself sorted on my original novel to see if i can a) look at it as an edit, rather than re-writing everything i have done so far, and b) get the other one out of my head, as i am unlikely to foget it as i already have basics written down and the prologue.

so maybe ill give that a try, or maybe ill still be sat here on the 20th june with the same problem!
and people think this writing lark is easy?!

Carol

Good luck with whatever you do YKY, as you can see every writer is different, so go with how you feel.

Jay Mandal

Remember to save the first draft just in case you need bits of it later.

louise

I've loads of unfinished novels. It's all part of the writing experience, and it's good practise. don't throw anything away, it's always good to look back.

Good luck