Lessons From a Quitter

If optimism is a disease, then reality is the cure.  And the reality is...my work in progress sucks rocks!
I don't like admitting this. I'd much rather blog about things I feel good about, but I guess you should hear the good AND the bad.
So here goes. I'm putting my current novel in a drawer in the study and I'm going to start focusing on my new novel...Hello NaNoWriMo.
 I may revisit Reaper Eternal sometime in the future, but for now I'm quitting on it. I promised myself I would NOT give up on this novel. I would work, fight, and force it into a good novel, but I just can't do it!
It feels down right wrong to give up on it, but on the plus side...I did learn a few things.
First, I learned that I need to work on my characters! The fact is, my book lacks an entertaining voice.
How. On. Earth. could I have missed this? I honestly don't have an answer for that one. I read it, not once, not twice, but three times. It wasn't until I posted the first chapter on Wattpad that I realized it was kind of a dud.
My main character has no charisma, and that's the kiss of death in fiction. (Especially for YA!)
My second lesson is that I need to plot out the story before hand.  I loved it when I read Stephen King's, On Writing, and he said not to plot, but the truth is, (and get ready, it's a shocker)  I am no Stephen King!! I need to plot out the story. The editing is just too terrible without a good plot in place at the start.
And third, and finally, I learned not to take things so seriously!  I've learned so much valuable information from book after book on writing, but I forgot that my main focus is simply to entertain the reader. Have fun. Make mistakes. Be ridiculous. I don't always have to make it "pretty".
So, with these lessons learned, Reaper Eternal is packed up in a drawer and I'm about to take a peek at Book In A Month to get ready for NaNo.
Wish me luck! I'm going to need it!
If you're interested in my other novel, feel free to check out the first two pages on Wattpad. You'll see what I mean about the lack of voice.
Oh well, if at first you don't succeed...