Knowing When To Stop

So, 23,000 words in to my third novel in 'The Second Sister' trilogy, I'm stuck.

Not just writer's block stuck. No, I can deal with that. Emotionally stuck. I just don't care about the novel I'm writing, and I'm only writing it because I want to tie up all the loose ends from the first two books in the series. So I have decided to scrap it. Now, this doesn't mean I'm deleting everything I've written. Deleting 23,000 words is a very bad idea. I might be able to use some of that material later, especially the romance scenes. But I'm not going to finish this book.

I always encourage my writer friends to finish the projects they start, especially friends that have trouble getting past the middle of their novels. But sometimes you just have to know when to quit. Writing is supposed to be about joy, discoveries, and emotions. When you are empty of joy, when you make no new discoveries, and when your only emotions are frustration and anger... it's time to work on something else.

So instead of writing the book about Snow White that I thought I would write, I'm going to write a version of Rapunzel with a new cast instead. I already have about 7,000 words from a few years ago that I really enjoyed working on, and I'll use that as my jumping off point. Remember my advice about saving everything? Follow it. You never know when you'll use it again.

Wish me luck, I'll need it.