Changing Course or Chickening Out?

So, I've been at this professional writing thing for a month now, and I've written thousands of words for my article, but now I'm feeling like my idea is not going the way I thought it would. I feel like I'm not really bringing anything new to the table in terms of my approach to teaching writing (which seemed really revolutionary when I started it last year!). Now, I'm feeling like I have a better idea (similar to my first idea, but not similar enough to use any of what I've already written). My dilemma is this: am I really and truly finding that my original idea was just not meaty enough yet for an article and, thus, rightfully and intelligently changing course, or am I just chickening out and retreating into something new to avoid pushing through the tough stuff? I've seen students abandon essay after essay in favor of a different, more promising topic because they feel that each previous topic was "not working." Nine times out of ten, starting over is a bad idea because it's not the topic; it's the writer. What to do from here? Keep pushing the original idea, or store it away for future use and pursue the new?

"Words, Words, Words."

During the last NWP Saturday meeting, a few of us were sharing ways to use Wordle. Here is a user friendly PowerPoint from Slideshare that I found helpful. Please feel free to comment on how you use Wordle in your classroom.