I have restarted one of my stories many times. I think of it as my magnum opus, the story that I have put the most into and the one that means the most to me.
It is a culmination of all the things that I enjoy in life and my overall perspective on the world. More than anything, I think I am trying to write the story that I want to read, the story that I would have given to myself when I was a young person growing up in the world.
I first started this story nine years ago when I was a freshman in college. I could also argue that I started this story when I was a child, a grade school student alone in his room trying to figure out how to forge intangible ideas into a cohesive story.
At this point, the story has gone through four or five different iterations. Each time, the story has gone through dramatic shifts and changes in structure, plot, characters, worldbuilding, etc. It has also evolved to match my sensibilities, tastes, and worldview as I continue to grow as a human.
Nine years is a long time to be working on anything. It can seem discouraging but I think that certain works deserve this more slow-paced, revision/reboot method of story crafting.
After all, one of the greatest fantasy trilogies of all time, Lord of the Rings, went through a similar process. J.R.R. Tolkien restarted his story countless times before it finished. In his process, he often found that he would stumble across questions in relation to the plot, history, and lore of Middle Earth.
His solution was to take a step back for long periods of time, often going months without touching the story as he tried to answer these questions as the author. By the time he finally had his answers, he often started over from the beginning.
He had several reasons for this. He found that by the time he returned to the story, his ideas about his story had changed so drastically that all of the work from the previous drafts were no longer compatible with his ideas. He also found that by starting over, he was reacclimating himself to the world that he was plugging into and manifesting into our own reality and onto the page.
So don’t feel too discouraged if you are in a similar situation. I used to be rather frustrated with this method which appeared messy and inefficient at first. A better way to look at this process is to compare it to a katana. The traditional method of forging this Japanese sword is to reforge the blade many times over to purify and strengthen the material. I believe stories are the same. Each iteration of the story has to go through drafts and revisions anyway, right? I think ideas do, too.
Several weeks ago, I restarted my own story, again, with page one. Little by little, I add words to it. The difference between now and the first version is that I have more of those questions answered. I feel more confident in this draft.
For those of you who are struggling with your own stories, who feel trapped in your own cycle of creative purgatory,
I encourage you to find the courage and set aside those artistic doubts. I hope you try again and this time, you are ever closer to forging your master craft.
Danger Wonka 