The Dreaded Novel Re-Write

I know in my bones that the novel will get stronger with a re-write, but I haven’t got a clue where to begin. A few days ago, I was rearing to go. I started up Scrivener, moved my old novel folder into a draft and helpfully renamed it to draft ‘0.9’ - the idea being that I am edging closer to version ‘1’ (a throwback to my days working in Information Technology). I then created three folders, calling them Act One, Act Two, and Act Three. Great stuff. I felt I was on the right track.

Fast forward forty-eight hours later, and I’m looking at this new draft folder and my mind draws a blank. It’s 6:20 am, my coffee is half drunk, and I can’t seem to think of anything. I run a search on Google, “How to ReWrite Your Novel” and come up with tonnes of blogs all filled with wonderfully vague bullet points that say a lot without helping. The answer isn’t going to be out there.

I’m so tired of this novel, and self-doubt is creeping in. Was it all a waste of time? Were people humouring me when they said it’s a cool idea? I don’t know. Part of me wants to toss it all in the bin and move on. The other says I’ve worked on this for so long, that I can’t give up at this last hurdle. No clue what to do next…