Writer's Fallout Shelter

Only you can decide if a project is worth continuing or not. If you seriously don't like your characters and do not enjoy writing the story I'd say "Toss it" If you're not enjoying the writing process you're readers won't enjoy reading the result. Having said that I'm a little packrattish and have my discarded novels backed up and stored like geshultz suggested. It's not that I plan to ever come back to those books but given the hours of labour that went into them I know it would be particularly painful to destroy them completely.

Some more experienced authors have mentioned that it's important to feel able to just destroy a manuscript if it's not working. Perhaps it's a courage I need to cultivate. Ultimately, if you really want to write the story you'll come back to it and without the old version to drag you down you could start fresh. The ideas and characters are still in your mind and ultimately, the second attempt will be cleaner, fresher and more precise than the original. That's what re-writes are all about.

Of course, as I said earlier, if you just aren't liking the book any more I wouldn't waste my time. Each book takes up a large portion of a writers time. Not just writing, but rewriting, editing, submitting, and then IF accepted months shaping and then publishing and then promoting. Ultimately, books take years of a writers life and you have to decide if THAT particular book is WORTH years of your life. Generally only the best are so put it aside, back it up or burn it and move onto the next project.

Then again, perhaps it's important to evaluate WHY you're feeling guilty. Are you feeling disloyal to your characters? Are you letting yourself down by 'copping-out'? Are you feeling this need to give up because of fear rather than genuine displeasure? Have you tried freewriting about it?

Have fun and keep writing,
Yours truly,
Rebecca Laffar-Smith