When it's Time to Let Go of Your Story

It's a given that when you're writing a book, you'll sometimes hit blocks.

Writing is not a straightforward process, and it often throws obstacles in your way. Most of the time, these obstacles can be overcome, and the results are well worth it.

But sometimes, it's not worth it.

Sometimes, the writer's relationship with their book can fall apart. Sometimes, the relationship isn't worth fixing, and the best thing to do is to let go -- to delete the manuscript and start over with something new, something better.

So how do you know if you should really give up on your story? How do you know that you're not just making excuses to avoid hard work? Here are some possible signs that a story isn't worth sticking with:

1. You've been struggling for months and you still can't see a way out. Not only that, but none of your writer friends can see a way out, either.
2. You rushed into the idea very quickly, without really thinking it through.
3. The story has become boring, and it has been boring you for a long time.
4. You haven't worked on it for months because, again, it's boring.
5. You have no idea how the story is going to end. In other words, it's not that you're having trouble getting from A to B; it's that B doesn't exist at all.

Overall, it has to be a careful decision on your part. If you feel even a hint of regret at scrapping your project, you probably shouldn't do it. Even if you don't feel regret, you still need to be absolutely sure that your story isn't worth it before you give up.

As a side note, if you have a completed first draft of a story, you probably shouldn't give up on it. There's always time to edit that puppy later.

Sometimes you have to scrap your work and move on