For NaNoWriMo I wrote the first 50K of a novel. Since then, I've been trying to figure out how to finish it (I started without much of an outline, and it needs at least another 50K). Now I think I've finally got a better idea of how the whole finished book will fit together, but the thing is, it involves a major re-write of the part of the book I've already got done. The characters and the general idea of what's going on are the same, but how it actually comes about is very different. Should I start over from the very beginning, or continue what I've already got and then go back and rewrite the first half of the book? It would be tidier to start afresh... but I really hate to just abandon 50,000 words... what do you think?
I'd do a rough outline of what you want to put in and change, then start re-writing. I haven't actually finished a draft since my.... gosh, first one. After that I merged two books together and never managed to keep things strait without a re-write.
That might not be the best thing to do by some standards (mine included) but it's how I work.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo
Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
I think that if you really feel that you can't do much to help the first part, you should rewrite it. Merging things is really tough, and rewriting is common when you do it. Personally, I would finish it first, then rewrite any parts that don't match up. It's your story, so do what you think is best.
There once was a cat. He wasn’t particularly fat. Fuzzy was his favorite mat. And really, that was that.
Oh, but did you really think so? Keep reading, it’s just the start of the show! And as for how far this tale will go… Well, even the cat doesn’t know.
Sort of a merging of the two tips behind me, but what if you wrote out a quick outline of what is suppose to happen in the new draft up to where you are currently writing and then just continue normally? That way you can write the ending while you still remember it and are enthusiastic to finish, then go back and rewrite the beginning the way it should be.
I know exactly where you are coming from (I've done something similar before) and my gut instinct would be to tell you to just keep writing. Get whatever you got on paper and then you can go back and edit. It's what editing is for.
If anything from the first draft seems so useful you desperately want to keep it, print off in little chunks (easier to digest that way) and insert it in later.
But yeah, mostly what Gryphon said.
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." William Faulkner.
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