Code Red! Having To A Do Re-Write

I can't believe I went allowed myself to drift as far as I have from my thick-set plot and I can't believe that I allowed myself to miss adding one key detail that needs to be in the story. The Misty Fire was doing well up to chapter 15 then I began experiencing problems; Writer's Block, 4 dogs, a sick Ferret that needed my constant attention and the constant worries of life like what I was going to do about my failing car and which bill gets paid and which one will have to wait and so on and so forth.

I began drifting away from the story's plot at chapter 15 and now that I'm nearing chapter 30 I'm finding that not only have I drifted so far from the plot that the story went from being a good one to being a mosh-n-posh type of disaster I also have to start completely from scratch (the writer's scream and hair-pulling starts now).

I've spent 8 months getting this far and now I'm looking at a re-write? I've written over 300,000 words and I have to start all over from 0 which not only frustrates me but makes me feel right depressed.

Has anyone had a similar issue in getting so far in a work and then finding that it needs to be re-written at a certain point or completely re-written? I can't just up and abandon the this story, it ties in to the sequel/prequel that comes in next and I have 2 further stories planned for this series that I've already written out, planned (plotted, sequenced and etc).

Brightdreamer said:

(And... 300,000 words and you weren't finished? I hope that was a typo - that's a monster draft and then some. In your next attempt, look for ways to pare that down and tighten the story.)

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Most of what I had written wasn't needed which was why it's over 300,000 words. Being as attention-drifty as I was I'm surprised I didn't have 450,000 words in the story. I'm planning (and hoping) to cut the word count down 100,000+ words in the next draft.

I also hate to break it to you, but it's very common to go through multiple drafts of a story before it's ready to submit or publish... so you'll be doing something like this again, at least once. Maybe not from scratch, but you'll still be revising. Each time through is - or ought to be - an improvement.

Good luck!

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This'll make the 6th draft that I've done on this one story (yikes!)

Usher said:

You now know the character and the story.

I always rewrite my stories anyway because it allows for a depth and foreshadowing that you couldn't do even with a plan. My first novel is on its 13th rewrite.

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True, yes and I know where the story is going to go and how it's going to end. Thing that keeps knocking me back though it where the story is taking place.

The Americas are out since they've been invaded and taken over by a hostile alien that has been wanted to conquer our small planet for a little over 2000 years. The main character (who is regarded by Earth's people as a heroine as she was constantly thwarting the hostile alien's attempts in taking over our planet) and her [now] five sons can not live in North or South America, they have to find a new place to live that is overseas (Germany is the place that I picked for them to live in).

The heroine and her sons settle down in Germany, they have just settled into their new lives when people from their past decide to show up and create trouble. The people that have showed up are family to the heroine and her sons (husband/father, adopted daughter/sister, grandfather/uncle, grandmother/aunt and etc etc etc.).

Most of the characters that are in this story are immortal which is why, 2,101 years after the hostile alien set his sights on our planet they are still alive [and well]. The only characters that are not immortal are the human ones (the main ones being: The Klieds [Mitzi (32), Kurt (35), Petra (17) and Sarah (14)] and The Leinart's [Stefan (46), Rosalinde (43), Sophie-Annelise (16), Thede (8) and Rainmund (5)])

This story takes place in the year 4,100 but, due to the numerous plagues and natural disasters that we have experienced over the past 2000 years, we haven't advanced that far in technology. The human population in 4,100 is just one billion.