Failing Better

Before interrupting my life for Script Frenzy, I was writing several short stories. There was one in particular that I had spent a few weeks researching. I actually still have the pile of books next to me. Several pages were written, many more pages of notes were taken. And then last night, as I was recaffeinating, this thought zaps me in the head. I was wrong. Everything that I had written was just wrong. The flow was off. The whole concept was off. I had started the story too early in the action and had given too much background.
This was all without having read the story in a bit over a month. So I went back into it and I was right. It was awful. So today, after gardening, hanging out with the kids, making chalk outlines on the ground and other strange things, I will be starting over and not just rewriting, but reworking the whole concept. Several years ago, I would have felt that my initial efforts were wasted. Now I'm beginning to realize that these false starts are like the birth pangs of something greater (I hope!). I guess Samuel Beckett was right when he said "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." I'm rolling up my sleeves.
In other realms, I'm trying to get used to Twitter and working on getting a blog roll up here. Bear with me. I haven't had any coffee yet.
I highly recommend checking out The New Literary Agents. There's a great post where you can weigh in on the writing process and write about your own.