Even as a new writer, you have to trust yourself to know when something is or isn’t working. You may need to leave a scene or whole chapter alone and come back to it later to find not only the right way to approach it, but the best way to tell (or show) the story. In Fantastic America I’ve always felt the beginning was a bit rushed, but didn’t trust myself to change the way I’d written that first page. I’ve tweaked that page but it has remained mostly what it was the first time I wrote it, over two years ago. With editorial feedback my instincts were validated, even though I’d never said a word to my editor about that scene. I could have save a lot of time if I’d just followed my instincts about that scene. There are lots of examples of this in my work, sometimes I’ve listened to that instinct and sometimes, to my detriment, I have not. Listen to your writer’s gut, save yourself some time, but if it isn’t working at all, don’t give up on it!