Revise or Recycle; that is the question.

If you click on this link, look over my novel information, and nominate me, you just might help me to get published. Thanks.

I have been thinking about revising as opposed to recycling in my writing. When do you throw away a novel that you've written and when do you try to revise it?

I wish I knew the answer to that. Revision is always a part of writing, probably the biggest part, but when do you know to quit and start something new? I guess it depends on how you see it. I think there is a time to quit on something, and I can only give you my viewpoint. I think when you write something and submit it several times, and it gets rejected each time, it might be time to put that novel or whatever you write aside and work on something else. Don't give up on it yet though because we have all heard stories of books that get rejected time and time again only to be published on the 20th try.

Instead, leave it alone for a few weeks and get it back out. If you are still in love with it, then try to revise it.  The weeks of separation will allow you to see it with new eyes. On the other hand, you may decide on the second look that you don't think it's worth the effort to revise it or maybe you just don't love it anymore. I think that if you don't have the same ardor for it when you take a second look, maybe you better put it aside for good and chalk it up to experience.

I know that I have lost my enthusiasm for some of my writing, and to be honest, even if I tried to revise it, my heart wouldn't be in it, and I wouldn't do a good job. Finding a publisher or an agent for a novel is at best a crapshoot. I would recommend that any writer look up the website Manuscript Wish List and do a search for a fit for what you've written if you still think it has merit and if you have revised it.

like Manuscript Wish List because it gives detailed information on the agent or publisher and what they are looking for.  Find out about the agent or publisher by reading the listing there and going to their website. Even though it didn't turn into a sale, I once got a Hollywood Producer to look at a screenplay I wrote.  I had read that he was a fan of cowboy poetry.  For a while, I worked for a newspaper and one interview I did was with a guy who went all over the country to cowboy poetry conventions. They are big deals; if you don't believe me, look them up online.  Anyway, when I mentioned this to the producer, he congratulated me on doing my research, and he requested my screenplay. It didn't turn into a sale, but it was still a small victory for me.

Until next time, keep writing.