Revise or Start Anew

Decisions

I’m trying to decide what to do next. Revise a novel or start a new one. Yes, I do have to write a first draft sometimes, or I won’t have anything to revise!

Here are some things I’m considering:

1. Past reactions to my mss submissions. I have an animal fantasy novel, PAS, that I love and would like to do a novel revision on it, but my previous animal fantasy hasn’t sold YET. The two mss are different, of course, but in general, they are quite similar in feel and focus. Since I’ve not YET had success with that other mss, it’s hard to see how this one would get much interest.
   Still–I like PAS and think one more revision would whip it into shape; and I could address the comments from the first novel as I revise this one; and, it is perhaps a more marketable story than the first in some ways. Maybe it would be better to sell the first one and have this as a second submission to the same editor? Or vice versa. Maybe PAS would sell and the other would be a good follow up mss?
2. Time commitment and my life for the next six months. I have about 4-6 weeks here before school starts up and I’m swamped again with my son’s school and my own teaching. What can I reasonably accomplish in that time? For a new draft, I could get the characters and plot planned and perhaps a first chapter done. Not much more. But that’s really a good start on all the hard stuff about starting a novel. It would be a good impetus to get me going.For a revision, I might be able to get about half of it done and reasonably think I could finish it sometime in the fall. OR, it might go a lot faster and be almost done by the time school starts. That would leave me starting a new novel sometime in the fall. Hmm. That seems like a harder task, to start a novel in the midst of school chaos. Especially since my son will be playing football this year, with all the extra practices and games. But I’ve done that before and can do it again.
3. Passion. Which story evokes the most passion? The new idea has a good spark, but so does the mss to revise. Not much help there.
4. Marketability. Which story is the most likely to sell? Who knows?

No decision!
In the end, I’ll have to go back and re-read PAS and see if I think I can improve it and see if it grabs me and won’t let me go. If I can’t get into thinking about revisions for it, then I’ll move on to the new idea. Maybe. Shrug. Stay tuned!

Related posts:

1. Old Manuscripts? 2 Questions Before Deciding to Revise
2. Social Media for Authors: Start Slow
3. Revise again?
4. Talk, revise, streamline, investigage, read, envision, play
5. Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise