Don't destroy the soul of the story.

[Demesnedenoir]

Never taken a bus, so I wouldn't know. ;P It is good for a gumball machine, however.

That said, it sounds like it's the story wanting to be told. If there is value to the story, and it's the one forcing its way out of the writers head, I say go for it. If a new project is the one screaming to get out, then go for that. It's all good, just keep swimming.

Change is also good for the bus.

I do not disagree with the good arguments for rewriting, but I'll offer an alternative. Don't rewrite. Write a new one. The only reason for the rewrite would be if you are determined to publish that one.

If you are determined to publish, still don't rewrite. Send it off to an editor, or use this story to find yourself a good beta reader. Either way, don't rewrite until you get serious feedback. Your reader is going to see things you do not. Dealing with that is an important part of growth as a writer.

Just another way of thinking about it, not a prescription.

 

[Chessie]

I don't know, Helio...

Ideas are a dime a dozen. What matters is execution. /QUOTE]

Ideas might be a dime a dozen... or 6-7 figures in the case of a hot spec script/pitch. So, while ideas may be cheap, the right idea isn't.

Redraft, rewrite, edit, $#!$@&!... no matter what it is or what you call it, the writer must eventually be like a calf-roper, tie the rope, throw your hands up, and hope the calf doesn't get away. Writers just don't get it done in seconds, heh heh.

Looks like you've got the perfect hat for the job!

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Danged tootin, get along lil doggie and all that.

Looks like you've got the perfect hat for the job!

 

[Heliotrope]

I don't know, Helio...

Ideas are a dime a dozen. What matters is execution.

I know, I know, I've heard this line before... but I've had some pretty crappy ideas. Ideas I thought were interesting and fresh and wonderful but years later shake my head at the sheer.... shall I say "lameness" of them lol. Just not good. Nice attempts. Boring ideas. Only as I wrote more and learned more about craft and what the word "compelling" even means have I been able to learn to distinguish between a solid novel idea and a nice little fantasy that won't go anywhere. I hope that makes sense? Maybe this was a lesson only I needed to learn lol.

 

[Penpilot]

I know, I know, I've heard this line before... but I've had some pretty crappy ideas. Ideas I thought were interesting and fresh and wonderful but years later shake my head at the sheer.... shall I say "lameness" of them lol. .

I think most stories when broken down into their basic ideas can sound pretty lame.

- A farm boy finds a princess's lost robot and sets off to rescue her from the evil galactic empire.
- A space hooker, a mercenary, a preacher, a doctor and psychic assassin, go on misadventures with a rebel Captain aboard a space freighter.

Jim Butcher got challenged to combine two lame ideas, Pokemon and Lost Roman Legion, and he came up with the Codex Alera series.

To me, it's about finding the "IN" for that story that's key. The "IN" pulls the varies ideas all together and is what makes or breaks the story.

 

[Chessie]

I think most stories when broken down into their basic ideas can sound pretty lame.

- A farm boy finds a princess's lost robot and sets off to rescue her from the evil galactic empire.
- A space hooker, a mercenary, a preacher, a doctor and psychic assassin, go on misadventures with a rebel Captain aboard a space freighter.

Jim Butcher got challenged to combine two lame ideas, Pokemon and Lost Roman Legion, and he came up with the Codex Alera series.

To me, it's about finding the "IN" for that story that's key. The "IN" pulls the varies ideas all together and is what makes or breaks the story.

Agreed. It all sounds so basic from the OG concept. It's why I'm glad no one ever asks what I write about. -_-

 

[Chessie]

I know, I know, I've heard this line before... but I've had some pretty crappy ideas. Ideas I thought were interesting and fresh and wonderful but years later shake my head at the sheer.... shall I say "lameness" of them lol. Just not good. Nice attempts. Boring ideas. Only as I wrote more and learned more about craft and what the word "compelling" even means have I been able to learn to distinguish between a solid novel idea and a nice little fantasy that won't go anywhere. I hope that makes sense? Maybe this was a lesson only I needed to learn lol.

It may not have been the idea itself but the execution. I have simpler ideas these days but execute them with a bit more experience than my kick butt ideas who I still lament over writing like crap many moons ago. It all depends on the individual and their comprehension of story, which is by far the hardest thing about writing for me.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I think most stories when broken down into their basic ideas can sound pretty lame.

- A farm boy finds a princess's lost robot and sets off to rescue her from the evil galactic empire.
- A space hooker, a mercenary, a preacher, a doctor and psychic assassin, go on misadventures with a rebel Captain aboard a space freighter.

Jim Butcher got challenged to combine two lame ideas, Pokemon and Lost Roman Legion, and he came up with the Codex Alera series.

To me, it's about finding the "IN" for that story that's key. The "IN" pulls the varies ideas all together and is what makes or breaks the story.

In my view, almost no ideas are too dumb to make into a compelling story. If they appear that way, I say think farther outside the box.

And sometimes an idea's apparent "dumbness" or wackiness can be its appeal. (I feel like Sharknado is an example of this. Or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...)

Edit: but this is a tangent.

Also, I think a lot depends on your frame of mind. If you've ever heard Explain a Plot Film Badly type things...the wrong perspective can make even good ideas seem dumb.

But again. This is a tangent.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I've always been of the position that ideas are cheap and that it's what you do with them that matters. However, I'm coming round to the point where I feel that in order to do something with an idea you need to have some kind of attachment to it - a passion. You'll have to want to put the time and effort into doing something with the idea, and that's different to just having ideas.

 

[neodoering]

I edit novels, but I never rewrite them from scratch. If a story is so flawed that the only way to save it is to rewrite it from scratch, I just say to hell with it and set it aside and write something fresh that reflects what I learned in the failed project.

But every writer is different. If you have a hankering to rewrite a deeply flawed work, give it a try. You might come out with something really powerful.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I edit novels, but I never rewrite them from scratch. If a story is so flawed that the only way to save it is to rewrite it from scratch, I just say to hell with it and set it aside and write something fresh that reflects what I learned in the failed project.

But every writer is different. If you have a hankering to rewrite a deeply flawed work, give it a try. You might come out with something really powerful.

I get way too attached to my ideas and characters for that. I'm stubborn. I have to make the idea work.

 

[Ronald T.]

I've always been of the position that ideas are cheap and that it's what you do with them that matters. However, I'm coming round to the point where I feel that in order to do something with an idea you need to have some kind of attachment to it - a passion. You'll have to want to put the time and effort into doing something with the idea, and that's different to just having ideas.

I couldn't agree with you more, Svrtnsse.

If the author lacks "passion" in what he/she is writing, then how can they possibly expect a reader to feel passionate about the story? If I read a story that fails to touch something powerful in my heart, mind, or soul, I stop reading. For me, there is an underlying element that keeps me turning pages, one that is a fundamental requirement -- and that element is Passion. If I am to feel it as a reader, the author must feel it first.

Of course, that's just one man's opinion. And what do I know? I'm just a kid.

 

[skip.knox]

>If the author lacks "passion" in what he/she is writing, then how can they possibly expect a reader to feel passionate about the story?

True, but not all writers aim for that. I don't think Georges Simenon was aiming for passion. He was just cranking out detective novels and being very good at it. Nothing wrong with that.

If we set the passionate writer at one end, and the professional hack (not intended as a slur) at the other, there must be plenty of room in between for people falling somewhere short of passion. Rousing good yarn. A story the author cares about but is not perhaps passionate. I know as a reader I've had plenty of books I enjoyed without feeling especially passionate about them.

I'm not trying to overwork the word; just trying to make room in the tent.