UPDATE: I've been away from the community for sometime as I've been studying a science course. I haven't been able to stop writing, though. I start a new course in the autumn, but I'm hoping to launch most of my series on kindle in the summer break.
My question relates to my new projects. I wrote a Nanowrimo years ago that was only meant to be a fun holiday read and I started a far more serious work which, until a few months ago, was just a collection of notes but has suddenly grown. So my problem is, the fun Nanowrimo has taken a serious turn. If I manage to bring the current idea to fruition, it will probably be my best work. On the other hand my 'serious' project just turned itself into another romantic fiction when it was supposed to be anything but. Should I stamp my foot and put one or both projects back on plan, or do I just allow them to be?
Victoria, welcome back.
Is your 'serious' work simply just another romance, or have you lost faith in it? Books often evolve into something completely different from what the author originally intended, and are usually the better for it. You could abandon it if you no longer believe in it, but that's the easy option. Writers need to have stickability, otherwise there's the danger of never completing a work.
I remember that you actually won the Nanowrimo competition, so it’s obvious the judges thought your entry a worthy winner. I’m sure the piece you wrote can be successfully expanded into a novel. If you think the ideas you have for it will make it your best work, then I believe you are leaning towards bringing those ideas to life.
Good luck in your chosen path.
You can't change horses halfway through a book; but you can realise that the book you meant it to be isn't what it wants to be, and rewrite the beginning to match the end. Trying to force any piece of work to be what it plainly isn't is to ask for trouble.
Characters have a way of letting you know where they want to go, and you either listen to them or slap them in the face. I'd go with what seems natural: you'll have one serious work and one romance - what's wrong with that?
What you've found is that what you wrote years ago as fun actually has depth. The 'serious' work has a heart - doesn't mean it's any the less for that.
I'd follow where they lead; I think you'll enjoy the results.
Lorraine
Write the book you want to be remembered for.