How many of you have been writing for a while? Have a story that you just can't seem to finish? This article is for you—though if you're brand-new, this will eventually apply to you, too. Ahem. There will come a day when it's time to start that story over from scratch.
Let me explain.
How I Learned It Was Time to Start Over
I have a book I've been working on since 2007. In the meantime, I've successfully published several other books, but I keep going back to this one because it's my baby.
It's the life-story of the character who literally ties everything in my series together. It covers fifteen millennia (yes, you read that right). It's big and important and frightening—and I've worked on it and worked on it and added to it and taken chapters away and added more and completed THREE NaNoWriMos entirely with that book and I still never got it done.
I wept over this. Prayed over this. Plotted, outlined, took a couple of courses on how to finish a book, applied every single technique I knew.
It never worked. No matter what I did, this book sputtered and stalled and—would go no further.
But even with those problems, I couldn't just give up on the book. This book contains too much of my soul; it couldn't become a trunk novel. I had to find a way to finish it. So one week, I did something insane and bold: I started over from scratch and started writing it fresh from page one.
Please understand what this means.
It means I took the chapters I KNEW were good, the ones I've had on my website as a teaser for years, and I put them aside as if they'd never existed. I literally started with chapter one, page one, abandoning the thousands of words I'd stood upon as my bedrock and foundation.
And guess what happened?
It worked.
The words began pouring out. Words that had evaded my grip for nearly ten years suddenly came as easily as if I were telling a story I already knew, that was as comfortable as my own skin.
I wrote 20,000 words in a single week. It may not be a sustainable pace, but that character was utterly available to me, and writing the story from scratch felt like taking a fully-baked cake from the oven: done and ready to eat.
How to Tell If It's Time
I share this long and rambling tale in case you've been stuck too. There will come a time when something you've been working on forever needs to be put aside and started from scratch.
Yes, no matter how good those chapters are.
Don't even copy portions of them over. Don't do it. Just don't.
How do you know when it's time? Here's a checklist for you to follow:
- Do you keep trying to write more from a specific point, only to find the new stuff just isn't right and has to be abandoned?
- Do you keep editing and editing and editing the old stuff?
- Does the beginning thrill you, but no matter how long you've been working at it, you just can't find your way to the end?
- Have you been working on the same !@#$#^ book for more than a year?
Then you, my friend, need a fresh start.
I can't emphasize this enough:
Think of this as the ultimate application of Stephen King's words:
Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.
Or, to return to my previous baking analogy, it's like trying to work with dough in which the yeast is dead. You can't bring that yeast back to life. You have to start a new batch of dough—plain and simple.
If you've found yourself stuck on the same old story forever, maybe it's your turn to put those old chapters aside, no matter how hard you've worked on them, and start fresh. I promise your story will benefit.
Have you struggled for years with a story that refuses to end? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Which piece have you been unable to finish because it keeps stalling? I want you to take the next fifteen minutes and start that story fresh. Write it as if you've never told it before, and really listen to your characters. When you're through, share your writing. And if you share, be sure to leave feedback for at least three other writers!
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Excellent message! Thanks for this. I’m going through this right now with my first novel. But it’s a good thing. I figured this out (prior to reading your info above) in a flash of editorial inspiration – but your article confirmed what I already knew. So timely.
I agree, Wendy, it’s like you struggle and intuitively you know you gotta do something else. This article is spot on! Really helps us creative types realize we aren’t so strange after all. We do hate killing our darlings though.
Also, I believe you grow and change as a writer. Ruthanne mentioned this before. That’s what I found. I’m not the writer I was when I wrote my first novel, even though it is only a year or so ago. I now know some things I didn’t know then. The premise is still good but it has to be told in the voice of me now, if that makes sense. For now, I am getting close to finishing my second novel. It’s a totally different book and genre. So, I may end up editing and publishing it first. Time and inspiration will let me know.
That’s right! You never know. 😀
I’m so glad it helped, Wendy!
Is this for non fiction also.i mean the books v have read, research done. How can v let that go waste?
I’d actually say that yes, it does apply. Your research doesn’t go anywhere. The research isn’t the book; you putting what you learn into the frame of your understanding is the book. 🙂 You can start the book over using all your research.
I certainly have been struggling with a story that refuses to end. For twelve years I have been trying to right a family epic made up of my own experiences as well as ones I know other people have had and of course, ones I got from my imagination. It was making me neurotic. Then in August last year I threw it all away and forgot about it, swept it from my mind. I started a blog and have been writing poetry and flash fiction which has had very positive results in that I feel invigorated as a writer again and lighter of heart as a person, and definitely more inspired. I’m no longer a prisoner of my epic story that was never meant to be.
That’s a great idea–just push it all aside and do some other type of writing. It really does help! I have written chapter books and one day wrote a poem that I turned into a picture book. It was refreshing and fun and new! Sometimes in the creative arts, we have to change directions to find our way home!
I love that idea, Wanda!
What a story, Kim! Yes, it’s often VERY wise to do something else. I often say that we need to fill our creative well, and that doesn’t just mean taking other things in. It also means having more than one creative outlet!
I have a book I’ve been editing until the bitter end, but alas, I think I’m done. But, I can totally relate to this. I have struggled and prodded and plodded along with this story and just didn’t feel that “Yes, this is it!” feeling. I hired two editors. I’ve returned to my beta readers. And well, what worked was I created a whole new first chapter. I guess I had started at the wrong place. Writing that brought the story together. It’s funny, because I felt like I wrote the story backwards. I knew the ending but the beginning hadn’t quite gotten off the ground. Thanks so much though because I can see one day…starting all the way over with one of my works.
You know, as long as you made it to the end, it’s all good. 🙂 Neil Gaiman puts it like this: “Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.”
I’m so glad you got through, and I hope you keep creating!
This is actually what’s been happening with my work of late. I started writing a novel when I was 14 that I’ve now come back to. The distance has given me new eyes to look at the characters. When I initially started writing the story, I struggled with understanding my main character’s motivations. In the time I took away from the story I started getting treatment for my mental health issues, and now looking back on that character I realize she has depression like me. I think at the time I was subconsciously using her as a vehicle to express what was going on in my own mind. I’m coming at the story from a completely new angle, writing the characters as adults instead of teenagers with new backstories and a new premise. I’m not too fussed about trying to complete a novel, but I’m excited to see what happens!
I love your insight, and this synopsis sounds absolutely great. I think you’ve got a fantastic story here. Definitely take all you’ve learned and give it a go, fresh. I think you’re right, and it’ll be richer and far more deep than it could have been before.
Funny that this post showed up today, I’m taking it as a sign. I’ve been working on my second novel for three years. My first novel only took half that time. I’m frustrated and burned out with this version that never seems to want to end. Well, it is the end, thanks to this post. Starting fresh right now!
Melissa, that is the BEST news. Make sure you put on your favorite playlist! 🙂
Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, giving her the illusion of being fully present in the moment. Only a truly observant person would be able to tell that the sparkle of her eyes gave no indication of the lack of activity in her mind. In fact, her mind was as dormant as a bear in the middle of winter: sleeping, and set to be so for a long time to come. The way she walked was just as misleading: her toes pointed the way you would expect a dancer’s to be. But no one knew that she had never danced in her life, because her life was not her own.
_____
A scream came from somewhere within the building. But it had such a look about it that no one questioned the noise. The decaying walls had turned a withering gray over the years and vines climbed up them like that was where they belonged. The windows were covered with rotting boards, caked in algae because of the salt in the surrounding sea air. No on win the town knew what the crumbling walls held, but no one seemed to have any interest in a building that had no purpose. Little did they know that the purpose of the building lay in it being forgotten.
Each day a new delivery would come. But no one noticed. Each day screams could be heard, usually screams that sounded as if they should be feminine, but held a darker hint that something more was at play. But no one noticed.
Every day a girl would emerge from the cracking doors and walk out onto the pier. But no one noticed. Her eyes would scan the area, looking, but not seeing. But no one noticed. So it only made sense that no one noticed when a shot rang out and the girl collapsed to the ground, eyes rolled back in her head. And why should anyone notice the footsteps that echoed as six men in all black came and collected her limp body? Why should anyone notice that her shoulder was cut open and a piece of plastic removed? Why should anyone notice that her body became stiff and her mouth began to move as no noise came out? So no one noticed the blond girl as she was shoved into a white van that then drove off into the distance.
And…*!**???? I want more. Thanks for your writing. You had me right where you wanted me.
Thank you! It is a writer’s job to have their reader wrapped around their finger and I’m glad I was able to fulfill that with my story.
You have some really great details and descriptions here, and an interesting premise! The two things I would say are replace some of those pronouns (it, she, her) with nouns (the building, the girl) and tighten up the sentences. Lengthy sentences and too many nonspecific pronouns can confuse the reader as to what’s going on. Good luck with the story!
Thanks for your feedback! I will definitely work on my pronoun/antecedents to make sure my lengthy sentences are understandable.
Hi, Annie! WOW, that was super-creepy! Well-done! Was this freshly-written?
Yes! I took the allotted fifteen minutes and rewrote the beginning of a story I started a long time ago.
Sounds to me like you’re ready to go. I’m excited for you! Don’t stop!
I love Space Opera/ I had a story I loved, but could never get past 18,000 words or so. Any time I tried to expand the story, it just fell apart. I finally shelved it and started anew space opera. Popped out 42000 words in a month. Best writing decision I ever made.
Charles, that sounds so much like my experience. I’m just thrilled for you. Keep writing!
This was the perfect article for me right now. I’ve been working on the same story since 2011, and while I’ve gotten other works out this is the one that started everything for me. Thank you for your encouraging words to start with a clean slate!
I’m so glad it helped! I KNEW I couldn’t be the only writer out there in the middle of this particular morass. 🙂 Best of luck with your fresh start!
I just did exactly this. Sweated blood over a story that just wasn’t working. A week ago I started again, completely changing the personality of the main character, and I’ve written 20,000 words in a week. I did have a little cry when I decided to scrap it, though.
WOW, Fiona! That’s fantastic!
Yes, I know those tears. I really do. But it’s okay to cry them! You’re allowed to grieve. Just don’t let the grief tie you down. Instead, let it motivate you to keep writing!
I needed this post! I keep coming back to edit my first novel over and over again, but it always gets overwhelming with the amount of stuff that needs to change, and the ending is just so wrong. I think you’re onto something, taking the leap of faith and starting from scratch. Totally going to put this into practice. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic, Xtine! You can absolutely do this. Put on your best playlist and your comfiest PJs (or however you write the best) and go for it!
That is… Terrifying. Honestly, this post got me terrified.
I’ve been working on this novel for two years now. In the meanwhile, I have written other stuff (short stories and some fan fiction), but I always considered this one story my main goal. But it is getting more and more difficult. I force myself to write everyday, but I feel like everything I write is garbage. It just doesn’t work. I know the end I am aiming at, but I never seem to get there.
I had thought of starting over before, but I am terrified that if I do that, I will never reach the end. I mean, I spent one full year working on only 6 chapters, because I kept on writing the same chapters over and over again. So I am afraid to take that approach.
I will struggle a little more, I guess. I’ll give myself a chance to try other techniques. But if I see nothing else works… I will try starting over again. Thank you for the advice, Ruthanne! And congratulations on your courage! It takes a lot of bravery to do what you’ve done.
Andressa, I completely understand this terror. I may have briefly mentioned the crying and praying at the top, but that was a serious understatement.
Thinking about this kept me awake nights and made me question whether I was even a writer.
I can say on the other side that it is worth it – but WHATEVER you do to get writing again, that is the thing that’s worth it. If another technique works for you, then grab onto it with both hands!! Like Neil Gaiman said, “Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.”
If not, you can always reach out to me for some commiseration. I hang out here: http://ruthannereid.com
Alright. Thank you very much for the support! =)
I feel the same as you do, Andressa. I’m unsure of scrapping every thing to start all over again.
It’s scary, right, Lilian? Have you tried other approaches already?
I have often thought about starting anew, but I ‘archived’ the story, hoping for a better moment and enthusiasm for looking it over, to edit, improve, and so on.
Scrapping the story seems a waste. It not my ‘darlings’, so to say, but it is an interesting novel if put together correctly.
Best of luck, Andressa.
I see! I’m sure you will find a way to make it work.
Thank you! Best of luck for you as well! =)
I so feel this. Hang in there girl. Your story is worth it!
Thank you, Jessica! I won’t give up. =)
I’ve been there more times than I care to count. I have stories where I finished a rough draft, but nothing more. I have a story that is in limbo. I started a rough draft, but there are too many holes to fill. I think I made it too long. This is probably a story that needs a fresh start. I’ll probably revisit it when I finish my other stuff.
George, that’s a brave and important realization. I really hope you’re able to follow up – that story needs to be told! You can do this.
I have several like this .. I just cant finish and cant bare to part with. One I redid from scratch and its going ok… off and on. But it is still not finished yet. Its frustrating,,,, its those times I stop writing period.
Debra, I SO feel that. It feels like we aren’t even meant to be writers when that happens. I know all too well!
Don’t let the frustration rob you of your joy. Your stories need to be told. Even if you need to start a new one and come back to these later, that’s fine. You can do this!
That’s the one thing I can’t do- throw away ( delete) a story totally, because they are characters I have come to know and love. The two I have redone have new titles and starting points. While some elements are the same, because the story is told different the spots where I was stuck before have been removed.
I’m not suggesting throwing any stories away. 🙂 Retelling them is actually giving them new life!
oh Ruthanne I wasnt saying you were, I was just saying I could never do that…
Aaah! I have been working on my novel 6 years? Likely more? This is a wonderful idea. When you re-started, did you do a new outline?
Hi, Emily! This will sound odd, but I did not do a new one. I already know where this story is going; I’ve outlined it a billion times. Here’s the beauty of it, though:
It went where I’d thought it was going, but not in the order I’d planned, and by completely different sideroutes.
Mind you, I’m a pantser more than a plotter, so this isn’t weird for me – but what WAS weird was seeing how the new version came to life in ways I could never coax the old one to do. All the facts and stories and characters in my head finally came together when I started this from scratch without a new outline, just trusting that I knew this story as well as I know my bedroom in the dark.
It’s surprising me, but in all good ways.
Very interesting! I am also not a plotter. Getting started on this first thing in the morning!
Go for it, Emily!
Can’t quit. It’s my life story! I’m about 1/2 way through my life. I’ll get there after all my other projects are out of the way!
Mary, that sounds super exciting! I look forward to it!
This is good. Okay, I will try not to be afraid to start all over…✋
Dang, I should try that. I have novel that has been giving me problems with revisions for years. I just can’t seem to get it right. I occasionally open it up and start working and get just…discouraged. Maybe it is time to start over from scratch on it.
Yes absolutely! This reminds me of the success I find with writing fanfiction. I already am familiar with the characters and the world, so writing about those things is easy. There’s no bullshit to wade through. I’ve abandoned and restarted many times; and it does get easier, because I know the story but I’m not trapped by what I’ve already done. Thank you for writing this!!!
Also.. 2006. Yep.
Scary but absolutely necessary. Found it out somewhat organically. I didn’t really start a new piece, I just hit ‘Return’ about 100 times so I had nothing but a few pages of blank screen so it felt like I was starting over. I also knew that what I had written was ‘there’ if I really had to refer to it but I didn’t!
It turned out to be a huge help to start fresh without getting mired in what you’ve written previously, which WILL derail your writing, guaranteed!
I think it mostly comes from a crippling fear that you won’t be able to write it again but guess what? It WILL actually come out better! Trying to wordsmith paragraphs that just weren’t your best writing is the epitome of futility.
Remember, you can always go back and copy the little snippets of genius. If you can write brilliantly one day, that’s not a fluke, it’s talent and skill that you CANNOT lose. Have faith in yourself!
I bored easily and was always looking for a challenge.
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