When a Book Doesn’t Work

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A little over a year ago, I started work on a new project. Three weeks later, I abandoned it.

It’s the first time since the 1990s that I’ve quit a project. The thing was, I was excited about the premise for the book. I carved out time, while writing another book and outlining a third, to work on it.

But I found it was getting increasingly difficult to work on the outline. I went to the library in order to focus solely on the book and made some good progress that way. Still, I was getting cold feet. And I don’t ever get cold feet with my books.

Since I had two other books to work on, I decided to put the manuscript aside for a while. The decision disappointed me, though. I already had a cover designed, back cover copy, characters, a developed setting, and the first chapter. Despite my disappointment, I dove with some relief into the other books I was writing. It was good to be surefooted and on familiar territory again.

Months went by, more books were written. I was still thinking about the abandoned project, knowing I needed to get back to it. But every time I steeled myself to return to the document, I remembered my dissatisfaction with the book and stopped, returning again to the familiarity of the established series I was working on.

I’m definitely a finisher though, and the project kept talking to me. I’d think about it before I went to sleep and when I woke up in the morning. I’d read other books and think about my own during quiet moments during the day.

I got ahead with my regular writing schedule, stuck a book up for pre-order, and then delved into the abandoned book.

I started by asking myself what was making me unhappy about the story. I narrowed it down to these things:

I’d decided it was a solo project instead of part of a series.

I’d decided it was not a cozy mystery, but something akin to women’s fiction.

I didn’t like the fact that I’d used first person POV.

I didn’t like the meager outline I’d developed for the project. Usually, my outlines run about 35 pages or more.

So I started all over again. I didn’t even open the old document, nor the previous, scanty outline. I changed all the things I disliked about the project and started over. The book came out in April.

So here’s my advice if you run across a similar issue:

1. Don’t be afraid to shelve the project temporarily. It might give you perspective.
2. Try to pin down what’s keeping you from moving ahead with the story.
3. Consider starting completely from scratch instead of trying to fix a story that’s gone off-track.

Have you ever reached an impasse with a book? How did you approach it?