Every time you rewrite a book, you create a new version of it.
Maybe the protagonist makes a different choice. Maybe the plot unfolds in a different order. Maybe the entire tone of the book shifts, depending on when you’re writing it, what you’re feeling, or who you are at that point in your life.
And suddenly, you’re not writing one book anymore—you’re writing competing realities.
This is The Parallel Universe Draft Problem—the phenomenon where every new draft feels like a completely different book, leaving you stuck in a cycle of rewriting without ever feeling like you’ve landed on the right version.
If you’ve ever felt like your book keeps slipping away, changing every time you try to pin it down, you might be caught in it. The question is, how do you decide which version of the book is real?
Why Some Books Feel Like They Exist in Multiple Versions
1. You’re Constantly Second-Guessing the “Best” Version
Every time you rewrite, new possibilities emerge.
- Maybe the story should be told in a different POV.
- Maybe the timeline should be nonlinear instead of chronological.
- Maybe the ending you originally planned doesn’t feel right anymore.
And every time you entertain one of these what ifs, the book fractures into new possibilities—until you’re left with too many versions to choose from.
2. Who You Are When You Write Changes How the Story Feels
A book you started five years ago won’t feel the same when you come back to it today.
- If you started writing young, you might revisit a draft and feel like the tone is too naïve.
- If you wrote during a difficult time, you might find the book darker than you intended.
- If you’ve grown as a writer, earlier drafts might feel like they belong to someone else entirely.
A book can feel like a time capsule of the person who wrote it—but if you’ve changed too much, rewriting can feel like trying to edit a story written by a stranger.
3. The More You Revise, the More Possibilities You See
Each time you go through a draft, you notice new things that could be different. You make small adjustments, then bigger ones, then suddenly the whole book isn’t the same book anymore.
And then you start wondering:
- Was the first version better?
- Is this version even the same story anymore?
- Did I just lose the original spark of what made this book special?
And just like that, you’ve rewritten yourself into a paradox—where no draft feels final because every draft feels like it could be something else.
How to Stop Rewriting Yourself Into a Black Hole
1. Pick One Version and Commit to It
At some point, you have to stop exploring and start deciding.
- What’s the version that excites you the most?
- Which draft feels closest to the emotional core of the book?
- If you had to choose one version to publish tomorrow, which would it be?
If you keep trying to make every version exist at once, you’ll never finish any of them. Pick the strongest version and move forward.
2. Set a Hard Limit on How Many Drafts You’ll Do
Some rewrites are necessary. But endless rewrites? That’s just creative avoidance disguised as productivity.
- Set a rule: After three full drafts, I will finish and move forward.
- If you’re still rewriting after five drafts, the problem might not be the book—it might be your fear of finishing.
3. Make a Decision Tree for Big Changes
If you’re stuck between two versions of the book—should it be dual POV or single POV? Should it be first-person or third-person?—don’t rewrite the entire book just to test it.
Instead, map out the pros and cons before making the leap.
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of each version?
- What are you gaining, and what are you losing?
- Which version serves the deepest truth of the story?
If you can’t decide, go with your gut and commit—because the longer you hesitate, the more alternate versions will keep multiplying.
Final Thoughts: Choosing the “Real” Version of Your Book
Some books resist being pinned down. They keep shifting, mutating, expanding into parallel versions of themselves, tempting you to rewrite them forever.
But the truth is, there is no single “correct” version of your book.
There is only the version you choose to finish.
So if you’ve been stuck rewriting the same book for years, trapped in a loop of competing drafts, maybe it’s time to declare one version real and let the others fade.
Because a book isn’t real until you stop rewriting it and let it exist.
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