Lipstick on the porcine?

[Der Jimmelwriter]

Has anyone ever felt they might be polishing something, lipsticking something, which may indeed merit being flushed away rather than the subject of further tinkering, polishing or cosmetics? I am rewriting a thriller for the third time and have the nagging suspicion, this late in the game, that maybe the idea just ain't there. Anyone been there? Any thoughts - persist, or drop and move on?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Yes. Been there. I put it away and when I dared fetched it out again, and did another rewrite, it turned into something else.

 

[Der Jimmelwriter]

Yes. Been there. I put it away and when I dared fetched it out again, and did another rewrite, it turned into something else.

Thanks - good to know

 

[Eva Ulian]

Yes, four times, as far as I remember. The first was a military romance, chucked it out, but the idea is still there... I need to radically transform it to make it work.

The second based in the second world war, was I felt, close to my heart, but did not have enough material to make it into a novel. It never got to the computer stage and I haven't a clue where the note-book is.

The third was a fairy tale I wrote when still in ankle socks, which no longer exist except in my mind.

And the fourth is an adult fairy tale, a kind of parody of Dante's Inferno; rather a journey through the after life. That is still around in carbon copy somewhere.

 

[Robert M Derry]

Yes, and it's a difficult place to be in - it is hard to know whether you're polishing a turd or completing the final touches of a masterpiece.

You need to get into the most objective place possible and try to analyse what's working and what's not. Time is the easiest way to reach this place.

How long have you left it between drafts? You have to leave it at least a month, and if you're unsure, longer. It really helps to write something else during these gaps.

 

[RK Wallis]

Absolutely. My current WIP has gone through multiple edits (a good 60,000 words deleted each time), and each time I've done what @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine suggested, "turned it into something else". So, I've effectively written quite a few fantasies. It's like I'm drilling for the real story. But resting it like @Robert M Derry suggests is vital to that process. Each time I return to it after resting it, I still like it (even if I know it needs even more), but if I didn't feel that, I'd ditch it.

 

[Der Jimmelwriter]

Yes, and it's a difficult place to be in - it is hard to know whether you're polishing a turd or completing the final touches of a masterpiece.

You need to get into the most objective place possible and try to analyse what's working and what's not. Time is the easiest way to reach this place.

How long have you left it between drafts? You have to leave it at least a month, and if you're unsure, longer. It really helps to write something else during these gaps.

Thanks everyone. I have written this book over a period of seven years, starting after the publication of my first novel in 2011. Disclaimer - I did write, and have published, three other books in the intervening period - so it's had plenty of time to mature. But, like some wines that aren't meant to be kept, maybe this one is past its sell-by date. I am about 60% of the way through a redraft, so no doubt time will tell. But it's good to know others have been there - thank you.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yep. I have two books in a drawer, because I just decided, after much buffing and polishing, that they were turds. Interesting turds, and I'd learned a lot from writing them and trying to fix them (I don't regret them), but it was time to move on.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

If you've lost interest in it, no reason to keep flogging it. It's still served a purpose, like working on an anvil.

 

[Der Jimmelwriter]

You know, I still quite like it. Very much in fact. I've just been toying with it for so long. Time to get it out there, methinks!

 

[Eva Ulian]

Don't put out something flawed @Der Jimmelwriter, readers are merciless and it could ruin your reputation as a writer in the long run. Analyse the reasons why you had misgivings in the first place and see if they were justified.

 

[Der Jimmelwriter]

Thank you @Eva Ulian agreed!

 

[Eva Ulian]

It's what I would do @Der Jimmelwriter - and I am abundantly grateful that some things I wrote were never published. If they had, I don't think I could walk around with my head up high now.