Know When to Hold 'em, Know When to Fold 'em

Okay, so we've all heard that song, am I right? I mean, even an insurance company has a pretty funny commercial about it.

But this post isn't about the commercial, or even the song, really. This post is about when to walk away.

In between edits for a certain book I've been picking at, I have been working on rewriting a YA Fantasy I had in my "unfinished projects" drawer. It's basically a drawer where I keep my projects not yet ready for the real world. I was full of hope and moxie when I pulled that pile of papers from the drawer and let the light in. And I worked on it for around six months, give or take.

I must have re-read the book six to eight times in the last few months. There are some really great scenes and character breakthroughs in it, but on my last read, I discovered I was bored. Yes, bored. With my own book. It's the greatest fear of any writer.

Note: if you, the author, is bored, imagine how the readers will feel.

Wracking my brain to come up with a solution that wouldn't take another six months, I realized I needed a pair of fresh eyes on my book. Luckily, I have the best beta reader (and friend) who took the weekend to read it over and gave me her notes.

Now, I was expecting the worst, even asking my beta friend if I should scrap the book entirely. 

The weekend was over. The email pinged in my inbox. It was as I feared. My YA Fantasy was overworked, weighed down and stale. Her recommendation was to put it aside, get some distance, work on something else, and come back to it later, if I wanted.

As much as I had been expecting my world to completely crumble with sorrow and despair, I didn't. Yes, I may have shed a tear or two, even went through the bargaining stage of grief, but in the end, I took a day to come to grips with putting my precious (said in my best Golem voice) YA Fantasy to bed. It was a long day filled with too many unhealthy snacks, an even more unhealthy dose of Sex and The City reruns (I regret nothing), and rifling through my many "promising projects" folders and notebooks. It was a hard day, emotionally, but today I woke with a renewed sense of wonder and possibilities. And a plan.

Last year I wanted to have a completed book ready to submit to agents by the beginning of 2015. Things don't always work out the way we hope. The more I grow as a person (and an author), I've come to realize that we can't always control the outcome. Lately, I've become a more "rolling with the punches" person. Which I so didn't used to be. Part of rolling with the punches is not being stagnant or living in the past. I refuse to spend the next month stewing about how my YA Fantasy didn't work out.

Today I have rekindled a new romance with a YA sci-fi idea I've had for a while. Since I'm expecting things around my house to change drastically in the next month and a half (more on that later), I've also decided not to spend a bunch of time plotting this book. Well, not really. I have ideas, but nothing concrete. So, I'm tackling sci-fi and I'm doing it by the seat of my pants.

Time is ticking. I have a new book to write. I'm hoping it will be ready for editing by the beginning of April, but who knows?

Trying something different is the best way to broaden your horizons. Really, it's the best slump-buster that I've found. What are some of your favorite ways to pull yourself out of a bad time? Have any of you ever dealt with having to put a project aside for one reason or another? You know how I love to hear from guys. :)