I’m sure we all have novels that we gave up on after 10, 20, 50 pages, because while we were excited at first it just didn’t end up working. When do you reach that point when you know a novel is going to work? When do you know when it’s an idea you want to stick with to the very end of the novel?
As reader Roberto Suarez Soto asks:
You may start your book strong and confident, or doubtful and hesitating. But there’s a point when you know that it’s going to work … or not. Maybe your initial strength diluted away, or maybe your initial doubts created a lot of conflict that ignited your plot. By that point your book should have momentum, should propel itself onwards; if it doesn’t, you should hit “delete” and start anew.
When do people reach that point? After the first chapter? After the first paragraph? After the first word?
Cameron says
As for me, I am still not sure. I get an idea, and I can write the entire draft, but it isn't until I read it back later that I can tell if there is something worthwhile hiding in the pages. Part of that may be hitting the wall at some point during the draft of every novel, and trying to discern "the wall" from "the bad idea."
ryan field says
About six months ago I started a book that I thought would work in the first person. But by the end of the first chapter I knew it wasn't going to work. So I deleted it and started from scratch.
Chris Ing says
The point where I know I have to abort a draft is when I start adding a ton of characters. That's usually an indicator that the characters I've created are either not fleshed out enough or don't have enough going on in the plot to hold interest.
It doesn't mean I'll give up on an idea, it just means I need to go back to the beginning and polish my approach.
Christina Lee says
AHH good one. I have two that I began and shelved. How were they different than the one I am currently loving and revising? I lost my passion for them early on, and then I had to ask myself some serious questions. Am I writing to a trend, is my idea too over-the-top, etc.
Serenity says
Yea, mine's complete and has been through several revisions, and I'm still not sure. I want my agent to say it's working. Then I'll need an editor to say it. But I'm afraid I won't really know for sure until a readers says, "Yep, it worked for me." Tell me this is a healthy perspective instead of proof I don't have what it takes.
Andrea says
It's different places, but I know it because it's the place where I lose interest. If I'm bored anyone else reading it will be too. Sometimes this just means I need to stop writing and go for a walk. When I come back and read it again and I still don't feel like writing anymore, I start something else.
150 says
I don't leave novels half-finished; I muscle through, because I find a lot of value in finishing what I start. So either I know within about 3,000 words that it's going nowhere, or I don't admit it until the first edit. Probably not the smartest way to do it.
Susan Quinn says
For me, I have to know why I'm writing a book. Sometimes it's not to have a finished, publishable tome at the end. Sometimes it's to learn craft, or explore voice – it may morph into a full-fledged book along the way, but it doesn't have to start that way.
Paul and Karen says
I know after the first page. If it's not "talking" to me, I'm not writing it. I usually start with an outline of characters and story arc and end up in Venice. LOL!
Karen
Jeannie says
When I do have my doubts, I work on something else. I can be halfway through a piece and realize I’ll never resolve something then switch to another story. Coming back to a story after a little hiatus can make me read it with fresh eyes. If I’m not inspired after a three rounds of this, yeah, it’s done. I’ll file it away; maybe someday I’ll be able to use the idea differently.
Chibi says
Sometimes I can tell it won't work when I'm outlining, but I do have novels that just don't work. One, I got through a full draft and even started to revise it before realizing that while parts of the idea could be salvaged, most of it needed to be trashed. And another I began in first person before realizing it just didn't work. I think everyone has those moments, unfortunately.
Ted Cross says
I don't know. I have only ever tried writing one book, and I finished it. I think it is pretty good, but I don't yet know what others will think.
LurkerMonkey says
I have no idea … I'm on the third complete retelling of the same story and I haven't gotten it right yet.
Jennifer Walkup says
Totally depends. I've written one chapter, a few chapters, even a few paragraphs before abandoning. And on more than one occasion, an entire novel that when all was said and done, didn't work.
Christi Goddard says
I get an idea that I like and I start writing. My sounding board is several readers who get a chapter at a time. I don't send one until I'm proud of it, and their responses let me know if I'm on the right path. My first MS changed course a couple of times, but my current WIP is going full steam ahead and emails asking for more, so this one I'm pretty hopeful of. These are fellow writers, btw, not family members 😉
Terry Odell says
Just as I finish reading every book I start, I feel compelled to finish every book I start writing. They may change drastically, but I haven't yet abandoned one completely.
Bethany Elizabeth says
I think I'm too close to my projects to ever kill them, really. I keep them all, and if the plot doesn't work, I just set them aside for editing when I have more time, and move on to a new story I know works. I don't think I've ever actually given up on one.
Ben Carroll says
I give up too soon, I think. If it's not great after 10k, I will often either rewrite or abandon.
But on the occassions I persevere beyond that (because it's *never* great after 10k) it gets better.
Clay says
The book I'm currently working on is my first. I'm going to push to the end so I can at least say I did it. I think I have a great story (says the guy that's never been published) but, at the risk of sounding generic, only time will tell. I'm hoping to use this as a gauge so that my future efforts will be more efficient.
Kathryn Packer Roberts says
I start having doubts when the revision process begins taking too long. HA.
But, I don't give up, or haven't yet. If I am 'In Love' with the characters and passionate about the story, there MUST be something there.
I WILL MAKE IT WORK =)
JES says
10K words: feels good. But still flirting at the bar, so to speak.
30K words: the book and I have just exchanged phone numbers, email addresses, and Twitter/FB names. Now I know something's gonna happen, and the pulse is starting to race.
[Disclaimer: I've never flirted with ANYONE at a bar, let alone exchanged phone numbers etc. with them. But this how it goes, right?]
Mike Martinez says
For me, it's the third (or final) act in the book. I usually know the rough storyline when I begin, and I generally know where I want the characters to end up. If, by the time I'm writing the big ending, it's just too big a stretch to get things where I want them to go, then I have a major problem.
Jaimie says
I haven't written long enough to know the answer to that question.
I've been going for 5 years, having finished a novel and a few other small projects, but I've never had a moment when I KNOW I'll never lose interest.
John Baron says
My first one I abandoned after 10K when I realized it was wrong — wrong characters, wrong genre, wrong for me.
My second I got all the way through 95K finishes, revised several times… but it just doesn't work. I've tried for 6 months to MAKE it work by some pretty massive changes. I've started on another project now; maybe I'll be able to come back to the other one in a year or two and figure out exactly what it needs. There's always hope.
Chuck H. says
Chalk up one more for the stubborn fools who never give up. I may stop working on a project for a time but I know I'll come back to it later. At least this way I'll always have something to work on if I hit a dry spell.
Ink says
I know before I start writing that I'll finish the book. Part of that is because I don't start writing right away. The idea has to prove itself first. The stories that gain a momentum and a life of their own are the ones I write, and if they have that much momentum (to start me writing) I know I'll finish (beginnings are harder than endings).
And I have complete confidence that I can make the story something I like, that I think is worthwhile. I know that. Will other people like it? I can't say. That takes readers, and even that is always an imperfect scheme. For every book that's ever been written there have been people who liked it and people who didn't. The only difference is in how many of one and how many of the other…
Lynn says
I post a good of it online and do minor advertisement for it. If I'm not getting enough feed back or returning viewers then I know I did something wrong.
Other things being the fear of continuing on. If i'm to scared to continue (I've completed other works before) then I know its my gut feeling that this just isn't going to work.
Shaun Hutchinson says
Geez, great topic as I just went through this. But I know a book isn't working when I have everything planned out, know all the characters, am 30k words in, and don't care what happens next. I usually keep trying to work on it, but when I dread sitting down because I'm bored, I know the story's gotta go.
I know I've got a keeper when, like all the books I love to read, I can't wait to sit down and write what comes next. When I stay up for hours daydreaming of the next scenes, when I'm writing dialog and character names on napkins. That's when I know I'm going to finish.
Renee Miller says
I know if it will work when I'm outlining. If I can't write a simple summary of what it is I want to write, then the idea won't work. I either reconsider and change it up a bit or set it aside for later.
Before I started outlining, I usually knew within the first three chapters that it wouldn't work. If I was bored with it, I knew the reader would be.
Kelli says
For me, it's never been a number. I've tried to tell stories that were somewhat based on my [albeit stupid] life, and I usually hit a wall when I realize I'm about to reveal something about someone that they wouldn't want the world to know.
So I've moved to straight fiction. And finally making headway.
Tracy says
If I have enough drive in the idea to start, then story then I know I'll finish it. I also accept that it may take umpteen revisions to get it "To Work", but it'll get there.
Mayowa says
I think the answer is tied to the reason for writing that particular story.
If it is a story that nags and yells at you to be written, then it should probably never be put down.
Sure there might be false starts and periods of lackluster passion (like i'm going through with my second), it seems the solution there is to keep trying until the right plot structure/pov/characters etc. become visible.
Kimber An says
It all depends on how you go about writing a book.
I work it all out in my head before I ever sit down to write, so I know. Besides, I have *so many* stories in my head that I never really get around to ones that don't work.
Christina Adams says
This is a very interesting question and I've enjoyed reading the different responses. I like to let my ideas marinate for months before I decide to work on them. If the idea still sticks with me and I continually find new things to add to it then I know it is something I want to work on.
Moira Young says
I don't know if I've ever given up on something … yet. I have ideas that I think still have potential, sitting in a digital drawer.
I like ripping things apart and putting them back together. So I guess it's not "giving up" so much as it's "recycling/reworking/transforming them into something useful".
Zachary Grimm says
With my first draft of this first novel, I definitely hoped it would work as soon as I got the inspiration. But I guess I KNEW it would work once I hit 50,000 words.
As for my WIP, I THINK it will, but I may not know until I reach the aforementioned word count. 🙂
GerriB says
Somewhere between pages 25 and 32. Always. I hit that wall, and things just stop if they're not supposed to work.
sex scenes at starbucks says
For me that happens in short stories. Well, happened. I never start one without knowing where I'm headed. I plot my novels, write pitch lines, query graphs, synopses and story board them, and I ask agents and editors at conferences, as well as other writers, if it sounds like a viable, interesting idea before I ever write a word of a novel. Life is too short to waste time on a bad book, especially if it's mine!
JDuncan says
The way I work, being the excessive plotter that I am, I know fairly well before I start if it will work. If I can't get the details figured out in the initial stages, I know that it likely won't work on the page. That said, I've started other projects before that never got completed, but that was mostly a discipline issue. I found a new idea I liked more and started something else. That doesn't mean I won't ever go back to the partials. Since I know now how I work best though, I don't believe I'll ever have a project that plain fails part way through.
Cyndy Aleo-Carreira says
Twice I've gotten halfway through and realized it was way too dark and depressing. There wasn't any fixing. Even with an outline, sometimes until you actually get into it, you can't know it's going to fail.
WriterGirl says
when i start avoiding the laptop. it means i've lost interest in the story so it's probably not going anywhere
Alyssa says
It's the characters, for me. If I have a sense of them as real people with emotions and desires and quirks, I really want to tell their story. If I can't almost feel them breathing, there's no point and I just sack it all. I've had what I thought were really great ideas, but the character realism wasn't there, and I couldn't write any more than a few dry pages.
Anonymous says
I am working on the first third of the first revision of the first draft of my first novel, so I am no expert and can only say that I haven't given up. So far.
There have been some tough times, but now that I feel like I "know" my characters, the revision process is going much smoother than the 100k-word first draft did. And faster. I'm also much happier with the story.
Perhaps any idea can be salvaged if you can maintain your passion for it.
Dawn says
I'm Queen of "The First Three Chapters" – after that the momentum fades unless I've REALLY plotted it out. I have about a dozen "first three chapters" books in my desk drawer.
Linda Godfrey says
I don't think I know until the bitter end. I always discover things that aren't working as I re-read and revise, but plow on because the process will teach me something, regardless. Then if it sucks, it sucks but at least I've told the story. And maybe someday I will know enough to go back and fix it.
Ganz-1 says
Until someone tells me it sucks and question me why I continue with it.
Or else I won't know.
Carolyn says
I have one doorstop book, all the others have been published. The doorstop book was written more or less without a contract and without an agent. That is, without the pressures that get me into "fix this sucker" mode.
All my other books (other than the first) were written under deadline and with every single one I have reached a point where I KNOW I'm going to fail, that the story can't be saved and ohmygod what was I thinking that I could ever do this?
It doesn't matter where in the writing of this book the feeling crops up, it does and it will, and (so far) I have been able to fix all my POS books, because at some point they're all a POS.
Learning to fix your POS book is a valuable skill. I no longer expect to end up with the idea I started with, but that is closely related to my writing process.
Jess says
When I found the inspiration for the novel I'm currently revising, I knew it was special. It has changed so much since the original idea that it's hard to remember how I knew, but I guess the best way to describe it is just that it felt different than the other books I had failed to write. I really cared about the characters and the story and the world they live in. It mattered–maybe not to anyone else, but it mattered to me.
About half-way through, I hit a point where I stopped writing. I still cared, but I didn't see a purpose for the book. It was a great story, but there was very little that was original or fresh to keep my interest. I read somewhere that your feelings as you write a piece will reflect the feelings of your readers. If you are excited, scared, sad, happy, etc. as you write, there is a good chance your readers will feel that, too. But the same goes for disinterest and boredom.
I didn't want to give up on the book because I had already dedicated several years of my life to it, and I still felt strongly that it had potential. It took a major shift in focus and HUGE changes to the plot to turn it into something worth writing. Once I let go of what I wanted for the story and allowed it to tell itself, it turned into something beautiful.
So even if it is never read by anyone outside of my circle of family and friends, I still think this project "worked", as it significantly improved my writing and proved to me that I can do this.
Taryn Tyler says
I never abandon a piece entirely. I think any story idea can work. Eventually. If you put enough time into it. Unfortunately no one has enough time to write every story idea that ever runs through their heads. I usually will put a piece away (for later I tell myself) when the call of another story is stronger. Unfortunately this leads to many –many— half finished projects.
Christina says
With fantasy full length manuscripts, I've generally written the first draft by hand pretty quickly (we're talking in a length of time between a couple of days and a couple of weeks) then typed it up on the computer, fleshed it out, reorganized, and then started my obsessive editing. I know that it's going to work when it flows in the handwritten.
With science fiction full length manuscripts or any short stories I generally write the first draft on the computer. It's more precise and I find that the feel of a piece is sharper that way. It feels more technical. I know those are going to work if I don't get bored with it in the first five pages/chapters.