What do I do with this crap I have written

[oloriel]

50,032 words.
So, I have finished NaNo.

That is, of course I haven't finished my novel. I have written 45 pages on How It Starts, which are mostly okay except for one really crappy episode, and then there's this huge middle part missing, and then there are 30 pages of Ultimate Plot-Twisting And What Happens Afterwards, which are total and utter crap.

The decent thing to do, and the thing to do if this is to be anything more than a little NaNo exercise guilty displeasure, would be deleting those 30 pages, and re-writing them in a less trite, boring and uneffective way.
The thing is, NOW I actually have an idea how that might work. Unfortunately, I did not have that idea 30 pages/10 days ago. I even suspect that I first had to find out that the original idea wasn't actually good before I could have the better (?) idea.

What I actually will do, of course, is
1) claim that NaNo victory. It's 50,032 bloody words long, and NaNo famously isn't about getting it right.
2) do nothing about this for a while. I'll just let it sit and steep, so to say. Well, I'll take some notes about the better (?) idea to do those 30 pages, so I don't forget it. But otherwise, hands off.
3) when I'm no longer tempted to throw up at the mere thought of this thing, I'll have another look. I'll see if the first 45 pages Except For That One Episode still look ok, and cut out the Bad Episode. I'll see if I know how to fill the middle by then. And then I'll see if the 30 offending pages are still offending. If so, I can delete and rewrite and see if the other idea actually is better or if I've just found another way how this novel isn't going to work, yay.
4)...
5)...
6) PROFIT?
Or not - whatever.

For now, I'm just glad this is over. And even though 30 pages of it are trite, boring, irrelevant and leading nowhere, at least I got them written first.

I feel like I finished a bloody marathon. No, honestly, this is physically exhausting. Oof. NEVER AGAIN. (quoth she, before signing up for NaNoWriMo 2013.)

Comments

[naurring.livejournal.com]

Wohoo! Congrats! :) 50k are 50k, no matter how bad.

I'm still 32k behind. XD

[hhimring]

Congratulations on staying the course!
As for the rest, it sounds like a good plan to me. Surely, just when you are completely exhausted isn't the best moment to decide on the relative merits of the two different endings? (And even if you decide to go for the second option later, maybe you can still salvage material from the earlier version?)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent plan! Congratulations on staying the NaNo course; you DID finish a bloody marathon, all in the grim November with the holidays following fast after. And sure, that was only the first draft; it's to be expected that the second will have a lot of changes, and then your beta-readers can have a look. But it often takes a long time between first and second draft.

Heh, my Morn Sigil Saga goes ever on and on, and I'm either going to have to edit it with a chain-saw before quilting the good bits back together, or start from scratch and tell the whole tale over from the beginning, without worrying about how 'true' to the first draft it is. In the first bit of the original, my protagonist is such a sniveling Elven Mary Sue that I'd want to kill her if she wasn't a ghost already; how embarrassing.

[nelyo-russandol.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!!! I didn't know you were doing NaNoWriMo (or my memory has stopped working if I ever knew...)

First: I doubt it's crap. Ok, it's a first draft, but still.
Second: Have a rest for a few days, then re-evaluate and make your plan.
Third: Remember us when you're a rich and famous writer! ;o)

[independence1776]

Congratulations!

You did do a marathon, don't discount that! Awesome, awesome, awesome. I hope that when you get back to it, that your new idea works.

:D :D :D

[jokergirl.livejournal.com]

Wheee, you won! Congratulations!
I'm still at 45.5k and counting, but working on it! :D But rewriting will also loom in my December. It's okay, that is totally a part of the whole experience :D

[dame_grise]

It's great you won!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I am impressed. I wish I could write that fast! I cannot even imagine how I would possibly do that if I were locked alone in a cabin with my meals served me. My brain doesn't work that way.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

There's not much salvageable, I'm afraid - the "better" version is so utterly different from the current version that they don't share any material (aside from maybe a few snippets of conversation, and the two lead characters). Oh well! It was a learning experience. ;)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

But it often takes a long time between first and second draft.

Yes, I'm afraid it will do that! Outside of NaNo, I don't really do much (if any) O-fic, let alone an editing endeavour of this scope. Editing it with a chain-saw sounds about right!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I mentioned it once or twice, but never at length, so you're definitely excused for forgetting or not noticing.

First: Nah, it really is crap. Embarrassing crap, too. But I know how I can change it to make it better, or at least, a different kind of crap, so I guess it can file this under "experience". ;)
Second: Of course. Having a rest before re-evaluating is part of the plan!
Third: I sure will - you'll all get signed copies ;) :P

[nelyo-russandol.livejournal.com]

But I know how I can change it to make it better, or at least, a different kind of crap, so I guess it can file this under "experience". ;)

Great, so not all is lost!

I sure will - you'll all get signed copies ;) :P

I'm overwhelmed. Thank you! ;o)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

It only works for me over very short, focused periods of time. If NaNo (or B2MeM, for that matter) lasted longer than a month, I couldn't do it, either.
And hey, you do get stuff written, anyway. We're not genuinely the NaNo target audience, I suspect - after all, we write stuff anyway! ;) NaNo is just my annual excuse to a) put writing first, and b) write o-fic.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you! But hey, half-way isn't half bad, either!