i know the feeling!
i can't begin to count the times i've written something i thought was hilarious at the time, only to go back and realise it's shit. i'm aiming at about 20 chapters, each with a page or two of basic info, before branching out into sub-sections and descriptions, along with a little anecdote or two.
( Smash Monkey it's a bitch convincing people to like you, Thu 7 Aug 2008, 3:31, archived)

Methinks I'm going to try to polish that first chapter off seeing as it's really really bad, then because what I have written most recently always seems best.
I'll do the third draft backwards which should theoretically even things out.
(Jeru War and Piss, Thu 7 Aug 2008, 3:33, archived)

be careful
once you've polished up the first chapter, the tendency is to think that the others look shoddy by comparison, so you end up tweaking them and adding bits that really aren't needed. my plan is to get the bones of each chapter down, then go back and fill out each one.
( Smash Monkey it's a bitch convincing people to like you, Thu 7 Aug 2008, 3:38, archived)

The first chapter is really fucking appaling though.
The original novel, the first draft, has been completely rewritten with the exception of the first chapter. Which still has the remnants of the boring, adolescent ranty shit in it, and given that the first will ultimately be the most important chapter it needs to run through well and be interesting enough to keep the people going the first 6 or so chapters until any intersting shit happens.
(Jeru War and Piss, Thu 7 Aug 2008, 3:41, archived)

that's one of the advantages of my book
it doesn't really have a story to follow, it's just a series of self-contained little pieces.
EDIT: i'm off to bed. g'night!
( Smash Monkey it's a bitch convincing people to like you, Thu 7 Aug 2008, 3:43, archived)