Thread closed

[Portly_Penguin]

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[samhasstories]

Do you believe it needs to be rewritten, or are you contemplating that because of your posting issues and others’ feedback? Ultimately it’s your work - regardless of what anyone else says about it, you have to do what you feel is needed.

I’ve rewritten longer, but that’s because I wanted to, because I thought there was potential to what I’d written but it wasn’t there yet. But I wouldn’t do that based on someone else’s opinion unless I ultimately agreed with it.

It’s a shame you’ve had issues getting things posted. But I think you should reassess if that really means they were a waste of time. I have non-erotica that will likely never be published, because it’s unlikely to be selected for publication at a literary journal or something similar. Because there isn’t, to my knowledge, a place like literotica where I can post that for free without someone deciding they like my work enough to publish it. But that doesn’t mean it was a waste of time. The writing is the point, not the publishing, though of course the publishing is nice too.

If your intent in writing is to have it read, there are likely other options. And I’d encourage you to keep trying here, if you’re so inclined. But I wouldn’t advise you to scrap work you’re happy with because of someone else’s judgment. Ever.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

I'd definitely rewrite it. Though, maybe you can find someone to read it for you and give some suggestions. I don't know about you, but I tend to get word-blind if I read something more than three times.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I went through the comments on all the chapters and all I saw were some very positive reactions and emotions from readers. I believe you are overreacting here. You have also left out the most important opinion - your own.

Anyway, you asked what I would do so here it is. I would leave it as it is, at least for now. You can apply the change of style you feel is needed in your following chapters or even in some new series. Why do I think this is best? Because you will clearly need time to flesh out your new style and to figure out how you want to write. Write new chapters of this series or some completely new story and try to find the writing voice you will be satisfied with. Give it time, and let everything settle in, and if in several months or a year, you feel like rewriting your first chapters to match the style you are happy with, then go for it by all means.

Right now, I see you are still unsure, you are still searching and questioning everything, so I don't think that is the right mindset to rewrite your story. There is a good chance that very soon you will be less than satisfied even with the rewritten chapters. Give yourself time to reflect properly, to find some confidence, and only when you feel you found your mojo, decide if you want to rewrite or not.
Every writer needs time to find their proper voice and you are no different. If you browse through this forum you will often find posts where authors say they cringe when they read their first stories. Yet very few among them have actually decided to rewrite them.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Personally, I'd rewrite it. I've written 90% of a story which I really wasn't happy about, so I just stopped. After a year, I had a new concept which made the whole thing work but I had to rewrite huge chunks.

You don't need to post stories regularly. Post them when you're ready and happy with them.

 

[STrent]

I guess the title pretty much explains where this is going, and I'm putting this in here rather than the editing section because I don't need an editor just advice from writers.

Basically, I have 39747 words of a story I was writing that I think I need to rewrite. Those 39k words are spread across 5 parts - 4 of which were published, one that got stuck in a rejection cycle, hence why I'm here. It's come to my attention that the parts across this story, but more specifically the most recent one, were quite wooden in the way that they were written and could be misconstrued as written by an AI system rather than a real person.

That's why I'm here.

With so many words, I honestly don't know if it'll be worth pulling the 4 parts that were published and rewriting the entire thing from the beginning or just scrape it and move on my life. I suppose the biggest issue is that even if I do go through the rewriting thing, that they'll just keep getting bounced back anyway and it would be a waste of my time. Would it be worth going through the hassle only to end up right back where I started?

This is an almost 'What would you do?' sort of question, so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Would you rewrite or scrap?

I had 150,000 words that required a rewrite.

57,000 words of that novel is now on Lit with around 43,000 words left.

Yes, I’ve lost about a third of the words.

Strangely I think it has helped the storyline as well as get through the publishing system.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'd leave it as is, take a break, then go write something else.

 

[Portly_Penguin]

Do you believe it needs to be rewritten, or are you contemplating that because of your posting issues and others’ feedback?

I think I knew there was something off with it though - though imposer syndrome is a permanent staple in my life. The feedback just helped to solidify the doubts I was already having with the work and where it sat. I knew it wasn't going to be perfect since I have never written erotica and romance is a hard one for me to write regardless, but the feedback and the rejections have a point.

 

[samhasstories]

I think I knew there was something off with it though - though imposer syndrome is a permanent staple in my life. The feedback just helped to solidify the doubts I was already having with the work and where it sat. I knew it wasn't going to be perfect since I have never written erotica and romance is a hard one for me to write regardless, but the feedback and the rejections have a point.

Fair enough. Feedback is good feedback when you agree with it and see how to use it to improve your work. As long as you’re not going against what you really believe the work needs, just because of someone else’s impressions. I will happily reject feedback I disagree with, even I respect and admire the person who provided it.

 

[Portly_Penguin]

Fair enough. Feedback is good feedback when you agree with it and see how to use it to improve your work. As long as you’re not going against what you really believe the work needs, just because of someone else’s impressions. I will happily reject feedback I disagree with, even I respect and admire the person who provided it.

I mean, it does somewhat suck to say it because I got caught up in the comments and reactions that were pretty good, but it's far from perfect.

 

[Portly_Penguin]

I went through the comments on all the chapters and all I saw were some very positive reactions and emotions from readers. I believe you are overreacting here. You have also left out the most important opinion - your own.

Anyway, you asked what I would do so here it is. I would leave it as it is, at least for now. You can apply the change of style you feel is needed in your following chapters or even in some new series. Why do I think this is best? Because you will clearly need time to flesh out your new style and to figure out how you want to write. Write new chapters of this series or some completely new story and try to find the writing voice you will be satisfied with. Give it time, and let everything settle in, and if in several months or a year, you feel like rewriting your first chapters to match the style you are happy with, then go for it by all means.

Right now, I see you are still unsure, you are still searching and questioning everything, so I don't think that is the right mindset to rewrite your story. There is a good chance that very soon you will be less than satisfied even with the rewritten chapters. Give yourself time to reflect properly, to find some confidence, and only when you feel you found your mojo, decide if you want to rewrite or not.
Every writer needs time to find their proper voice and you are no different. If you browse through this forum you will often find posts where authors say they cringe when they read their first stories. Yet very few among them have actually decided to rewrite them.

The thing is, I don't know if I can move forward without knowing where I stand on this story. I don't want to leave it unfinished, but getting it through the system is near impossible in the way it's currently written. Although, I'm trying to get a rewrite through and even that's not taking so I don't think rewriting will even manage to save me here.

Maybe I am just flogging a dead horse

 

[Portly_Penguin]

I honestly think I just might be being a little dramatic right now. Just ignore me.

 

[samhasstories]

Maybe @ElectricBlue had the right idea. Put this one down for a bit, work on something else. Come back to it in a little while and see how you feel then.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I'd leave it as is, take a break, then go write something else.

This. Having followed your AI saga on the other threads, what I'd definitely recommend doing now is writing something short, fun and so deliberately wacky/off the wall/stylistically unusual that there's no way it could be mistaken for AI.

Your novel will still be there in a few months time.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I'd agree with @TheRedChamber here.

Set it down. Take a deep breath. Write something else for a while. Try your hand at something short. Write some "drop off" stories (simple things you just drop off). Write a few vent pieces you don't share.

Then, come back and reread your old story and see where you sit and how you're feeling. Then rewrite or don't rewrite. That's always an Authors Choice, especially here where you're writing for free.

 

[StillStunned]

Scrap if it's crap.
Rewrite if it's alright.

 

[Portly_Penguin]

I've decided to do something else - maybe try some stand alone works - just to see what happens. If I struggle to get these ones through, then I don't know what I'm doing next

 

[MillieDynamite]

@Portly_Penquin, you could get good and snockered and try to write. Not that I recommend it. A good editor might be the ticket or checking in small sections and rewriting the lines that the checker gives you highlights on. I know it's tedious work. And I'm fortunate to have an editor that does a good deal of that. However, on Mexican Cutie, I did the rework and didn't have him even re-edit after.

I've decided to do something else - maybe try some stand alone works - just to see what happens. If I struggle to get these ones through, then I don't know what I'm doing next

 

[Paul_Chance]

We all hit writers block sooner or later. Just try relaxing and let some of the pressure fall away.

 

[lustychimera]

I've decided to do something else - maybe try some stand alone works - just to see what happens. If I struggle to get these ones through, then I don't know what I'm doing next

You could always start fresh with a new account. Maybe set it up on a different device, too, just in case.

 

[Portly_Penguin]

You could always start fresh with a new account. Maybe set it up on a different device, too, just in case.

The thought has crossed my mind. I expect there are some negative connections to this account now - from both Laurel, and people here. I'll see what happens with these stand alone stories before I go that far, though

 

[MillieDynamite]

Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry, you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now
Don't worry
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) Be happy
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) Don't worry, be happy
(Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) Don't worry
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) Be happy
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) Don't worry, be happy

 

[Portly_Penguin]

Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry, you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now
Don't worry
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) Be happy
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) Don't worry, be happy
(Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) Don't worry
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) Be happy
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) Don't worry, be happy

I'm trying

 

[Portly_Penguin]

Okay, I just submitted something new. I even put it through Sapling just to be safe.

Now the anxious wait.

 

[Portly_Penguin]

Okay, I just submitted something new. I even put it through Sapling just to be safe.

Now the anxious wait.

It worked!

The new story goes up tomorrow. Holy shit