: Re: Restarting a Novel In 2015 I wrote the first two thirds of a novel (as part of NaNoWriMo). I stopped at that point because I had written the 50,000 words required for the 'competition' but

I am a discovery writer (and find the term "pantster" as pejorative as "plodder" instead of "plotter."). All writers must go through a phase of discovering their story, whether it is inventing a detailed plot or inventing the plot as one writes so it fits the characters, culture, and world as they are getting introduced.

That said, I have abandoned stories, because I just did not like the premise anymore.

I wouldn't participate in NaNoWriMo, I don't rush my writing that much, and I will revise and will not finish a scene until I feel like it works with the story and the characters. The idea of "get it all out" is silly to me: I am building a house of cards, if I am not careful at every step, the stability grows worse with every level and it will all collapse.

So this particular story: I would either abandon, or start over from scratch. Read what you have, if you think there is a story you want to write in there, keep what you have for a scavenging reference and re-begin the story from scratch.

As for "out of date", you can use what you have to figure out how you did that: It is an error. IMO nothing I write will be out of date in just 3 years, or just 10. No novel should be so dependent upon any current events or some precise level of technology that it isn't worth reading next year. That is a recipe for failure, it may take more than a year to get it published.

So figure out how to avoid that. Sure, none of us oldies saw the switch coming from land-line phones to cellular, or the rise of the Internet back in the early 80's. Or the acceptance and arrival of same-sex marriage. Technology, medicine, and politics evolve and get dated. But ... three years? You got something in your style needs fixin', bro!

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@Mendez196

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: Making similies and metaphors work as intended Similies are like the Reddit 50/50 challenge: you either get something very good, or your eyes will melt off. I mean, you can ruin the mood with

: Re: Restarting a Novel In 2015 I wrote the first two thirds of a novel (as part of NaNoWriMo). I stopped at that point because I had written the 50,000 words required for the 'competition' but

More posts by @Mendez196

: Alternative sources of drama/tension when the setting is low-violence So, I think I might just have turned my fantasy setting into a Saturday morning cartoon. I just, don't want people to die

: Their own distinct personalities and motives for villainy. Would this be a good way to write a Complete Monster? It's a start. But there are only a few motives that really apply to

: How do I describe drugging? Iâ€™m supposed to write a scene where someone drugs her husband for sexual purposes. But I donâ€™t happen to know how that works. Does she slip drugs into his food

: Making similies and metaphors work as intended Similies are like the Reddit 50/50 challenge: you either get something very good, or your eyes will melt off. I mean, you can ruin the mood with

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