/lit/ - Literature

>>17930762
>>17930849
Would you rather I jumped this discussion into the new thread or kept it here? I don't have a preference but it helps you if you know which of the two active threads to monitor.

>>17824919
On trying something radical to "keep it fresh" I would ask why you feel the need for the story to remain "fresh". No story will really remain fresh when it is complete because revision is a necessity and you will work that idea down to a stub like writing all the graphite out of a pencil.

On changing the genre to mediate your contentment with character I would advise against it, unless it is a process you feel comfortable with and have prior success in using to get results. It sounds like you would end up with another crippled story that failed to grasp the original idea. More importantly, the characters are the story and the story is the characters. Changing one will give you a new story, not a fresh look at the old one. Free writing is advisable to let the characters talk to each other, but clearing and the slate and starting over is just a lot of work to return to the same point.

I would also advise against changing the setting to something "exotic". Setting is another one of the pillars of story, fitted along plot and character in holding up the narrative roof. Your desire to change one or two of these feels less like you want to freshen the story and more like you've trapped yourself and are trying to negotiate yourself out of writing that story.

Post something concrete here, like, "The story is about a dumpy cow named Moo Moo, who wants a name change, and has to negotiate his understanding of farm life as the farmer decides whether or not he should keep or sell him and his mother separate or as a pair."
If you do that I can help you with suggestions on the setting, characters, and plot in ways that you might find fresh or stale, but that will remain true enough to the audiences understanding of what your story is from a general glance (which is what you are going to be working with if you are writing both for the art of it or for money).