Topic: Exterminate
That chapter I spent the last 12 weeks working on? I've just deleted it. Better idea now. That old sh*t is dead, never coming back.
Do any of you do that?
- C J Driftwood
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Re: Exterminate
I just Create a new version and delete it from that- just in case I need snippits for another chapter. But I have trashed many a chapter and idea from the main version. It can be liberating.
- Norm d'Plume
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Re: Exterminate
I spent six years working on a book that I will now probably never publish. Does that count?
- j p lundstrom
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Re: Exterminate
Yes, I have thrown away stuff I thought was great, then it fizzled and I decided I'd never finish, so I deleted it. Then a few months later, I wanted to go back and it wasn't there. It's sort of like when I was a kid and somebody shot my dog. It can never be replaced.
I try not to save everything, but still, I feel like every idea is brilliant, and it makes me a hoarder. I just went back last weekend and threw out a bunch of story starts, because I could no longer remember what I wanted to do with them, and my computer was beginning to go as slow as I did before I got my hip replaced. We both move a lot faster now.
Even Steven King said he still wants to go back and fix his stories. It's a universal trait among writers. But you can't keep throwing stuff out and doing it over. Save it when you think it's good, and throw it out when it no longer works for you.
You did fine. JP
- j p lundstrom
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Re: Exterminate
Norm d'Plume wrote:
I spent six years working on a book that I will now probably never publish. Does that count?
Many years ago,when I was a newbie chomping at the bit to get something published, you advised me to slow down. You said you liked to wait a year before you edited your work. I'd say you're right on schedule. Persevere. JP
- Norm d'Plume
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Re: Exterminate
j p lundstrom wrote:
Norm d'Plume wrote:I spent six years working on a book that I will now probably never publish. Does that count?
Many years ago,when I was a newbie chomping at the bit to get something published, you advised me to slow down. You said you liked to wait a year before you edited your work. I'd say you're right on schedule. Persevere. JP
It must have been someone else. I never wait to edit my work. I generally edit as quickly as the reviews come in, so that I don't get the same feedback from every reviewer. In the past, I even tried to make major changes and republish them asap. I finally smartened up and settled on the idea that there would have to be more drafts.
- j p lundstrom
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Re: Exterminate
Hmm.. It's been so long, I guess I got my wires crossed. See what happens when you get old? Well, there's no way to figure out who it was--we were still at the old site.
My apologies for any awkwardness. JP
