Sometimes, starting over is necessary
We’ve all had to start a project over from scratch at some point in our lives, and most of the time, that realization is hard. Particularly when it’s something as time-intensive as writing a novel.
Yep, I’m currently rewriting a book from scratch.
Back story: One of my goals this year was to go through all 7 drafted books in The Mage War Chronicles and make (for the most part) some minor updates. I knew going in that I would be rewriting book 6 from a different character’s perspective, but I really thought the rest of the drafted books were pretty much okay.
When I started going through book one, I realized I was wrong. It was going to take more than a few tweaks to the main character’s back story and polishing up sentences to make it publication-worthy. And I only got through the first 2 chapters before making that decision.
I was frustrated for a bit, angry at my past self for leaving such a mess for my present self to deal with, and generally, discouraged. So I did one of the things that helps me process stuff like this best: I went to the pool and swam laps for a while. By the time I was finished, I was in a better headspace to deal with the situation.
A full rewrite of The Triad Murders has begun. Since I don’t need to change the major plot points at all, the rewrite has been going pretty quick. I’ve been averaging about 1 to 1 ½ chapters a day, and if I can maintain that pace, I’ll have a much better manuscript completed before the end of February.
And then I’ll re-evaluate book 2. I want to think it’s in better shape than the first book was, but I haven’t even looked at the draft for 5 years.
On the flip side, I’m pretty confident books 3-5 are in good shape. I wrote them more recently, and my writing has improved so much over the years, that I think the issues I uncovered in book 1 won’t be a problem. But…we’ll see.
I knew from the start that this project was going to take up a lot of my time this year.
The Mage War Chronicles is currently 7 books long, with an 8th outlined. I think there may be one or two others (if not part of the main series, then they’ll be related stories.) It’s a big project.
But right now, I have the time to really focus on it and beat the series into shape enough for publication one day. And yes, I’m still planning to publish it at some point—once I’m finished drafting books and all timelines run smoothly. (That’s another tough thing with this project: Every book has a different main character, and some of their stories cross. Making sure all of the events are the correct number of days/weeks apart has sometimes been a challenge.)
My initial frustration aside, I really believe the overall series will be better by rewriting some of the books. And I’ve been down this path before: I rewrote the entire Relics of War trilogy (twice) before publishing it in 2022.
So if you’re wondering what I’ll be writing/revising during the next few months, it’s The Mage War Chronicles. I’m not sure I’ll finish this project in 2026, but we’ll see how it goes. 😊