I think i made a huge screw up

[JS Wiig]

Published writers do seem to be more honest than they used to be about having an unpublished early novel or nine in the desk drawer...

The possibly either written or unwritten rule I may have heard somewhere or just made up on the spot is to stash the first four attempts at a novel and consider the fifth as possibly worthy of polishing into submittable quality and attempt to shop.
to agents and / or publishers.

 

[sknox]

I recommend actual notes over mental notes. There's a reason we invented writing. <g>

I'll go a step further. I recommend all your notes consist of complete sentences. Notes that consist of a noun clause, a single word, or sometimes even a single punctuation (I've done all these) that seem perfectly clear when made, can be cryptic later. Almost guaranteed to be so. Worse, they can be downright misleading, or conceal the really important feeling or insight you had at the moment. So, even though it will take longer and will sometimes feel tedious, make your notes from complete sentences.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I'd say just chalk it up to the writing game and move on. In my current work I just had to rewrite half of it simply because I felt that it was wrong to have a romance with the main character. I just rewrote 50k words simply to change that plot element. But it feels better now and as tedious as it was, I'm glad I did it.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[BcRedneck]

In the end I decided to use my first story as a back story. I feel like that was the way to go. The first novel may never see the light of day, but this way it serves a purpose.