What do you do when you know it's crap?

[Mastered_again]

I've started Part 12 of my series. I've got the thing outlined through 15 parts ( at least, some might merit further division).

The point is I'm about 1500 words in (each chapter had been 8-12,000), and I just reviewed it. It's crap. There's some snippets of good dialog and the storyline is what i want, but I feel I've chosen the wrong milieu and getting there feels contrived.

I'll save what I've written (for the dialog), but otherwise, I'm starting over.

Any suggestions or similar experiences?

I'm kind of new at this writing stuff

 

[Mr_Neb]

Crumple it up (figuratively) and start over. Sure, save some snippets that may have use later but there's no shame in scraping a story that is going nowhere. As they say, if you are going to fail, fail early.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I can't count the number of times that I have reached a point in a story where nothing fits anymore. This is generally due to me developing a character into a larger role or discovering some new research that changes the direction of what I want to say.

It has never proven detrimental to a story though, because I haven't published any part of it yet and I am free to go back and tweek previous parts to bring them into alignment with where I am now going.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I have issues constantly. My most recent posting here required me to cut much of the beach scene where the MC and her brother were assaulted and her brother murdered. It had a not-at-all-erotic rape that had to go for this site. I also intended to make it much more clear why her husband's life was ended, still not making it specific as to who killed him. I didn't make it clear enough, and everyone just assumes that MC threw him to the sharks.

I knew before I published it I wasn't as pleased with the story as I wanted to be. But I just couldn't figure out what I needed to do fix the cause of the husband's death. In the end, I still stand by what it is. There are enough references in the scene to let you know there was more than infidelity that caused his death.

 

[Altissimus]

I can only answer from the perspective of my own approach, coz it may be different from yours.

My approach to anything I write is 1) think up the premise, 2) think on the premise until I've got so many ideas its pushing to have its story told, and 3) write it only when to not do so begins to hurt and keep you awake at night.

With the above in mind, I very rarely get 'it's crap' moments. I occasionally get the 'stare at a blank page' moment. Troubleshoot: if you...

- aren't clear on your premise? Think about it more.

- started writing before it was hammering to come out? Let it stew longer.

- Couldn't get the flow going? Try changing narrative perspective, e.g. from CTP to FP. Amazing how often this can unblock the flow.

 

[djrip]

Just the other day I was complaining to my beta reader (first time I've had one of those!) that I'd taken a wrong turn and was considering scrapping my last thousand words or so. It was yet another sex scene and I just felt like it didn't exactly fit, or didn't seem quite believable for the characters. Funny since they'd already been going at it in various combinations for hours. But then, that was part of the problem. I rolled back a bit and started a fork to see how it feels going in a different direction. Might still use some of the stuff somewhere.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I find it best not to put much faith in those who don't like what I write, nor place any value on those who fawn over the work. My sense of value can't be measured by what others feel about me. Always you have those who like you or your work and those who don't like either.

 

[Djmac1031]

My only suggestion:

Don't DELETE it.

Walk away? Sure. Start something new? Why not?

I had a story I struggled with for weeks and, yeah, I thought it was crap.

So I walked away.

Came back to it weeks later with a fresh perspective, reworked much of it, and finally finished the damn thing.

Is it my BEST work? Not at all.

But it managed to grow into something I was happy with and, by the reception it got, most readers enjoyed as well.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Usually, I still publish it.

 

[djrip]

I find it best not to put much faith in those who don't like what I write, nor place any value on those who fawn over the work. My sense of value can't be measured by what others feel about me. Always you have those who like you or your work and those who don't like either.

I don't mind if someone wants to fawn over mine.

 

[Mastered_again]

Just the other day I was complaining to my beta reader (first time I've had one of those!) that I'd taken a wrong turn and was considering scrapping my last thousand words or so. It was yet another sex scene and I just felt like it didn't exactly fit, or didn't seem quite believable for the characters. Funny since they'd already been going at it in various combinations for hours. But then, that

My approach to anything I write is 1) think up the premise, 2) think on the premise until I've got so many ideas its pushing to have its story told, and 3) write it only when to not do so begins to hurt and keep you awake at night.

That's what usually happens. I might be forcing the composition. What's keeping me up is finding the setting, but I may have just figured that out.

I find it best not to put much faith in those who don't like what I write, nor place any value on those who fawn over the work. My sense of value can't be measured by what others feel about me. Always you have those who like you or your work and those who don't like either.

Right now, I'm the only critic (in the end, the only one who matters), not that I mind discussing the stories with readers once their posted.
But yeah, I mostly value my accomplishments on a personal and private level

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'll take it and be pleased they liked it. But I don't rate my story by anyone else like or dislike. Actually, not mine, not anyone's stories.

 

[MillieDynamite]

That last response was for you.

I don't mind if someone wants to fawn over mine.

 

[djrip]

That last response was for you.

I got it

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I got it

Fawning is nice to receive.

 

[Mastered_again]

My only suggestion:

Don't DELETE it.

Walk away? Sure. Start something new? Why not?

I had a story I struggled with for weeks and, yeah, I thought it was crap.

So I walked away.

Came back to it weeks later with a fresh perspective, reworked much of it, and finally finished the damn thing.

Is it my BEST work? Not at all.

But it managed to grow into something I was happy with and, by the reception it got, most readers enjoyed as well.

 

[BillTheKatt90]

Crumple it up (figuratively) and start over. Sure, save some snippets that may have use later but there's no shame in scraping a story that is going nowhere. As they say, if you are going to fail, fail early.

I am mostly a technical writer for work. When I am writing things that suck, I go through @Mr_Neb 's process above. I look for good stuff, highlight, ctrl-c, open new document, ctrl-v.

Then I chuck the mess and start over. Sometimes the stuff I keep goes back into the new version, sometimes it gets tossed because the narrative changes. Sometimes I rewrite the good stuff into better stuff. It's part of my process.

 

[Mastered_again]

I'm going to make some biscuits (the Amercan kind with buttermilk). Cooking helps put my mind on a different place.

 

[AchtungNight]

I find it best not to put much faith in those who don't like what I write, nor place any value on those who fawn over the work. My sense of value can't be measured by what others feel about me. Always you have those who like you or your work and those who don't like either.

If you can meet with Triumph & Disaster, treat those two imposters just the same.

To answer the OP, I frequently go over my stories from a disassociate perspective before I publish them. Just to make sure they aren’t crap. And each time I usually change things that don’t work right anymore. It’s useful.

I will back the advice to keep the good parts of your work when you scrap stuff. You should be able to recognize them. Ask beta readers if you’re unsure.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Trust your instincts. If you think it's crap, and you're the writer, think what your readers will think. If you publish junk, you'll quickly find out.

Go do something else, look up into the sky, see the clouds, the birds flying by. Give yourself a break from the writing, and come back to it later. It'll either get new legs, or you'll say, nah, it really is junk. That's when you delete it, and start over.

Or do what I do - start on another story. Write something, but don't waste your time if you've stalled.

 

[Mastered_again]

I'm going to make some biscuits (the Amercan kind with buttermilk). Cooking helps put my mind on a different place.

Done. Let's see if that frees my mind

 

[Voboy]

A standalone story that isn't going anyplace good? It gets left in the dust with no regrets and I move on to the next one. I can be sentimental about my stories when I know they're good, but I'm merciless when I know they're not.

But yours is a series, which I think complicates things a tad. I've only written one series that was all that long, and it was open-ended: I didn't intend for it to be a series until, suddenly, it was, so it emerged organically, chapter by chapter, with no real unifying outline.

When it started to feel stale? I ended it, quickly. Again, no regrets: I think the ending I devised is good, so the readers had little to complain about. But when it was time to go, it was time to go. I respect writers who can consistently crank out more than about a dozen chapters of the same story and keep it fresh and excellent, but I really couldn't.

 

[oneagainst]

- started writing before it was hammering to come out? Let it stew longer.

This. I very rarely ever grind to a halt or throw things away. The reason is that it's been gestating, the cogs turning, until the puzzle pieces click and then it needs to go down on (figuratively) paper. Don't under-estimate or dismiss the prep work. Like @Mastered_again it's the mixing of the biscuit dough that's the most important part of getting good biscuits, not the baking, I think.

 

[Mastered_again]

This. I very rarely ever grind to a halt or throw things away. The reason is that it's been gestating, the cogs turning, until the puzzle pieces click and then it needs to go down on (figuratively) paper. Don't under-estimate or dismiss the prep work. Like @Mastered_again it's the mixing of the biscuit dough that's the most important part of getting good biscuits, not the baking, I think.

Yes, all in the mixing, most importantly cutting I'm the shortening. Doesn't matter if it's crisco, butter, or, god forbid, lard. I think there's an analogy in there some where.

 

[Cagivagurl]

I've started Part 12 of my series. I've got the thing outlined through 15 parts ( at least, some might merit further division).

The point is I'm about 1500 words in (each chapter had been 8-12,000), and I just reviewed it. It's crap. There's some snippets of good dialog and the storyline is what i want, but I feel I've chosen the wrong milieu and getting there feels contrived.

I'll save what I've written (for the dialog), but otherwise, I'm starting over.

Any suggestions or similar experiences?

I'm kind of new at this writing stuff

I am not an expert...
Just somebody who enjoys writing.
I suffer what you have experienced on almost every story I write...
I have some stories, that have 30 different versions Simply because I don't like parts of it.
I rewrite, start again, saving the passages I like.
The fact you say that there are parts you do like, means there is a tale to be told hiding in there somewhere....
Sometimes, it just takes a while...
Whatever you do, don't delete it.

Cagivagurl