Today I had an epiphany, and I still feel like I'm floating. It's a rather simple one, really, and goes as follow:

-I've been working on my novel for over ten years, but it's still okay to alter it beyond recognition (cutting off the first half, altering names/ages/personalities/species, removing characters, altering plot lines, scrapping plot twists, changing the setting, changing the structure of the way the story is told) because it's still the same story. It's a descendent of the previous drafts, as all good drafts are, and that won't change no matter how drastic the changes are. It's okay to stop clinging to the past and start worrying about what it takes to write a good story.

-I've been attempting to write a rough draft from start to finish since June '08, but even with 170+ handwritten pages it's okay to stop and start working on the next rewrite right now. Or in November or December or whenever the changes have solidified and settled in my head.

But November sounds nice. I kind of want to try NaNoWriMo, but I'm not sure this qualifies. I'm starting with a clean slate, and won't be using any old writing (all of the past drafts are just notes/research, in a way), but... but it's still my old story. It isn't new. It's just reborn.