Turning Apples into Oranges

How do you stomach throwing away hours upon hours worth of work because you know, deep down, that even though the writing is great, even though you've spent hours in revisions making every sentence flow, it just isn't the right "fit" for what you're trying to convey?

That's what I've been dealing with this week.

Seven chapters -- seven heavily revised chapters -- into a manuscript that I am deeply passionate about, I came to the undeniable realization that the formal, third-person narrative I was using just DID NOT WORK.

The subject matter of this novel is of a very personal nature, and while the third person narrative allows for us to see into the minds of our characters, it just didn't have that "in your face" attitude I was looking for.

I won't be modest here; I think the narrative was written beautifully. The description was thorough and elegant, the narrator was trustworthy and unbiased, and yet didn't come off as a robot. I was damn proud of my work.

And I had to throw it all away.

I guess I can be comforted in the fact that I caught this problem on chapter 7 and not chapter 37... but it still hurts.

I'm pleased to report that I am almost back to where I left off, now with a new, fresh voice, and my instincts were right. The story works much better this way. But this wasn't editing; this was a rewrite.

So how do you deal when you realize your manuscript needs a major overhaul? How often does it happen to you?