I am writing my seventh book (Long story short, I've written eight, but lost the seventh one due to a laptop crash. So I'm re-writing my seventh one) and this is a place I've never been mentally before.
You see, normally when I write books I have a vague plot in my head and although I would diverge from the original plot somewhat, the overall spine will still be there.
This book hasn't been as simple though; I have ridiculously high standards, and quite frankly, the book hasn't been good enough. There have been times I've wanted to just delete the whole thing and call it a day, but I keep plodding on, wanting to be proved wrong.
However this part is a common theme; I usually hate my books as I write them and am convinced they are terrible, only to get excellent praise when I give them out to people to read them. My last published book 'Stranded' was a prime example of this. I said to people that I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what it was. But the feedback contradicted my thought process and everyone said it is by far the best book I've ever written.
CLICK THE PICTURE BELOW TO VIEW MY LATEST BOOK 'STRANDED' ON AMAZON
When I wrote my other books though, I knew once I had written the first draft that the bulk of the book had been completed, and I just needed to tweak things here and there. With this latest book I am fully aware that this first draft is going to have massive plot holes, and the fluency is going to be non-existent. This is uncharted territory for me; usually I'm not satisfied until the book flows and then I will continue. With this one I know I'm going to have to come back to it, possibly alter and/or move scenes and have a few days planning on how to make things flow much better, as the book seems to be stuttering right now.
I've already changed a plot twist as it didn't suit the book, so my plan now is to keep mentally focused knowing that the book will be far from done once it is finished, then tweak the book to make it an enjoyable read once I'm done.
Me (left) and another writer I met on my travels Michael Berndt
It's really tough for me to leave a scene and go back to it later, it seems lazy to me. But this is my latest test in my writing career. I've passed every one that has been thrown at me so far, so there's no reason to suggest why I will fail this one as long as I keep focused.
Which is easier said than done...
Keep up the good work and follow your passion Lewis. 🙏
Cheers Jeff!
Ow mennnn, really re-writing a whole book?
Damn... :(
I already have it with a steemit post that it doesnt come out the samen as the first time when it vanishes, i can only imagine how this happens with a whole book :(
Well I'm re-writing the book per se, but it's not word for word. I had a vague idea how I was going to follow it, it, it didn't work and now I've taken the book in the different direction. It's mentally and emotionally tough but no one is going to do it for me, and I need to keep going instead of making excuses saying everything and everyone is against me...
Its true..in the end you are the one that has to write the book again. Straighten your back and get to it. (And let it flow I guess??)
I hope so. It's not for me to judge...
Hey man, I have had something like that happen to me before. I had all my Music organized the way I wanted it and everything. One day my laptop decided to crash and I lost everything! Also had to go to the library to do all of my work I could've done at home. Never the less I got through it and managed to get most of my music back. Never give up. No matter how much time you need! Cheers friend!
It's mega frustrating when that happens! I've had a few where I've lost a couple of thousand words due to a power cut, but never a book before. I'd only written just over 10,000 words, but I hadn't saved it anywhere externally and it was all gone. Fortunately I still had a lot of hand written notes so that helped me get back into the mindset, but the original flow of the book had long gone...