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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36524
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36524
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I am a discovery writer (and find the term "pantster" as pejorative as "plodder" instead of "plotter."). All writers must go through a phase of discovering their story, whether it is inventing a detailed plot or inventing the plot as one writes so it fits the characters, culture, and world as they are getting introduced.

That said, I **_have_** abandoned stories, because I just did not like the premise anymore.

I wouldn't participate in NaNoWriMo, I don't rush my writing that much, and I will revise and will not finish a scene until I feel like it works with the story and the characters. The idea of "get it all out" is silly to me: I am building a house of cards, if I am not careful at every step, the stability grows worse with every level and it will all collapse.

So this particular story: I would either abandon, or start over from scratch. Read what you have, if you think there is a story you want to write in there, keep what you have for a scavenging reference and re-begin the story from scratch.

As for "out of date", you can use what you have to figure out how you did that: It is an error. IMO nothing I write will be out of date in just 3 years, or just 10. No novel should be so **dependent** upon any current events or some precise level of technology that it isn't worth reading next year. That is a recipe for failure, it may take more than a year to get it published.

So figure out how to avoid that. Sure, none of us oldies saw the switch coming from land-line phones to cellular, or the rise of the Internet back in the early 80's. Or the acceptance and arrival of same-sex marriage. Technology, medicine, and politics evolve and get dated. But ... three years? You got something in your style needs fixin', bro!

Original score: 4