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Q&A Restarting a Novel

I'm in a similar situation to you. I wrote the first 50,000 words of a novel during a NaNoWriMo (I can't remember which at the moment) and then finished it up during a Camp NaNoWriMo. If you are lo...

posted 6y ago by White Eagle‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:57:11Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36523
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar White Eagle‭ · 2019-12-08T08:57:11Z (almost 5 years ago)
I'm in a similar situation to you. I wrote the first 50,000 words of a novel during a NaNoWriMo (I can't remember which at the moment) and then finished it up during a Camp NaNoWriMo. If you are looking to finish an old story you started during a NaNoWriMo, I would highly recommend doing a Camp NaNoWriMo. There is one in April and July. You can set your own goal in words or hours. It's what I did, and it worked out quite nicely.

I would definitely recommend finishing your story. Unless, the story is complete crap. My second book was written during NaNoWrimo, and it was horrible and unfinished. The premise was dumb, the characters were boring, and nothing worked. I never finished it and have no plans to.

I think for that story it would have been better to completely restart. No amount of editing or finishing the story could have saved the reader from that disaster.

If you are passionate about a story, but are lacking motivation, I would suggest taking a break. I find this helpful as I try to edit my book. Take a few weeks off from working on your book. When you com back, look at it with fresh eyes and decide whether or not the book deserves to be continued, restarted, or scrapped all together.

There are no easy, definitive answers to this question and it is something you must struggle with on your own.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-05-29T16:43:42Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 5