A Book Nerd's Inner Voices

Stuck

Revising and rewriting a story is not an easy task. The one I've been working on (for years) has been "finished" and then rewritten at least five times. So, now I'm struggling with how to incorporate the parts of my story I want to keep and those that can be discarded. My story takes place two years after my main character and her best friend meet, but how much of the meeting do I need to show? Their friendship is important, but is it so important that those beginning scenes need to be included? Or do I stay mostly in the present and let the story unfold from this point forward?





That's where I'm stuck. I have so much back story, so much plot line that I took what was originally going to be a stand-alone, turned it into a trilogy, and then spread it out into a series. I have plot ideas that span at least six books to date, and with all the revisions, I have source material already written for the first three. It's piecing it together that's driving me insane. And yet, even with the hair pulling stress of trying to make it work, I can't get myself to scrap the story. My characters have become so real to me that abandoning them now feels altogether wrong.





So how do I it? Keep writing, right? Just add in what I want to for the rough draft and cut out all those unneeded scenes later. I suppose I'll have to run with that for now, because I'm struggling with getting the beginning to feel right. My goal is to get the first chapter sorted this week and posted soon. Stay tuned if you're interested. I could use all the feedback I can get!