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DataPacRat comments on Stupid Questions (10/27/2014) - Less Wrong Discussion
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Is continuing to write the story I started, that's turned into a novel, a good use of my time, or am I suffering a version of the sunk cost fallacy, and I would do better abandoning the story and starting something new (and presumably more properly rationalist), now that I've gotten my writing muscles properly exercised and in working order?
If you develop a reputation for not finishing your stories, men who value closure are going to be reluctant to read them. Consider that you have already abandoned Myou've Gotta be Kidding Me.
True. (Which is part of why I'm asking in Stupid Questions instead of Open Thread.)
As a possibly relevant detail, if I do end up unable to keep my motivation going, I have a backup plan to at least quickly finish up the current story, if not tie up as many of the dangling plot threads as I currently want to; specifically because of my experience with Myou've.
I think you should finish the story before you lose motivation. Writing without motivation would be really bad; I certainly don't recommend it. But developing a habit of not finishing things could also be dangerous in long term.
Perhaps you could treat "finishing the story" as a separate project. Imagine that someone else wrote the story, then the original author has died, and you have inhereted this task. You want to finish the story meaningfully, without reducing its quality, but you also don't want to prolong it any more than necessary.
:) In a nutshell, that's the trick I had in mind as an alternate source of motivation, if I can't keep my current motivation levels for writing the story up for a few more months.
Hm, now that you mention it, I think abandoning Myou've Gotta be Kidding Me was quite a good idea.
I'm curious; would you care to expand on your reasoning here?
To be blunt but vague, I thought it was bad, and I think your S.I. novel is fun to read and probably stretches your writing muscles more.
It's probably good to not trapped by the themes and plot arcs of the past if it turns out they're not so hot.
Novel writing is almost never a good use of one's time, as can be seen from how much one is usually paid for it. If you're enjoying it then carry on; if not, don't.
I don't think it's the sunk cost fallacy - if you're having fun, you should keep going. Your best work is still in your future.
Unsolicited silly advice: you're probably going to have to revise more in that future.
I have to say that I still am - I just managed to turn "Punch and Judy" of all things into a significant plot element. :)
I certainly hope so.
By 'revise', do you mean in the British sense of studying to get my background details straight, or the American sense of rewriting to improve previously existing text?