To bin or not to bin..?

About 5 years ago I wrote a novel when I thought writing would be easy. I have re-written it several times but it is so flawed that even if I fix all the problems it will be average at best - the storyline, characters have been done to death in other books and I'm pretty sure I've lifted a healthy portion of premise from a Ben Elton book. So my question is should I delete it and start on a new project - has any one spent a lot of time on something and thought this just doesn't work and moved on?

If you feel that way then by all means move on and start something new. No need to delete what you've already written though.

Unless someone's paying you, never work on a project you have no enthusiasm for (even then it's not a particularly good idea).
Move on.

Start something new but with the bonus of added experience. Moving on from a dead project doesn't mean you've gained nothing, just that you choose to apply what you've gained to something better.

If you're not confident about something then the best bet is to move on, in my opinion, but I would never delete anything... you never know! You might be able to use something in a different context or it may spark another gem of an idea.

Unless of course you are Ben Elton? Then, by all means, please give up!

Leave it alone and write something new.
But don't literally bin it or delete it!

The only good thing to be said about deleting it is that you never get the temptation to revisit it again and waste more time on it. See it as a clean break.

Then when you do get the moments of "argh I wish I could remember what I wrote here', you can comfort yourself with the thinking "that's because it wasn't memorable".

or halfway you can save the passages you like, delete the rest perhaps?

At the verrrrrrry least, print it out, and shove it in a dark cupboard or the loft, and then delete it off your computer. If you must delete it.
I don't really see why that's necessary though!

for me it's psychological, old writing can get a bit like a security blanket, or an ex you keep accidentally shagging. It's easy to fall back into its clutches and routine so you're better off having a clean break.

Once you're released by the shackles of your old work, which is clearly causing him some creative distress, he will be free to explore new and exciting avenues. Start approaching writing with relish and not frustration.

I like the idea of printing it off and putting it somewhere. That way you can only read it, not copy and paste, not edit.

Never throw anything away. Things can morph into other things.

cheers guys - I'll move it to my external hard drive - clean break and keeping it.

Good man.

Quote: Marc P @ October 21 2011, 3:14 PM BST

Never throw anything away. Things can morph into other things.

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This.

When I'm stuck for ideas I go through my old notebooks which are full of absolute rubbish but often I'll find something which I didn't have the skill or the inspiration to do anything with previously, but now I can turn into something usable.

Strip out anything good and dump it.