I'VE FINISHED FIRST DRAFT OF NOVEL - WHERE TO NOW?

Skip

Hi Everyone,
I don't post here often, so I'd like to wish everyone a belated happy new year.

I finished the first draft of my first novel on 30th December - after 4 years of trying!

I have it printed out, but would like some advice before I start the task of re-reading it, polishing it, etc. Shall I just sit down with the red editing pen and 'go for it'?

I know there are published authors on here, so any tips and/or advice on how to approach the re-read would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Lynn

pbw

Some say you can get stuck straight back into it.

Some say you should put it away for six months (six months!) and distance yourself from it and come back to it with your editor's hat on when you are able to be more objective and more critical. Everyone has their own way of doing it.

I managed to leave mine alone for six weeks and then I did a partial re-write, restructured the first section of the book, changed the opening chapter, re-ordered the plot, cut out a load of stuff (about ten per cent of the whole thing, including two whole chapters of self-idulgent drivel). I then left it for another ten weeks and reviewed it again, added a few little bits of juicy decoration and explanation here and there and generally took polishing opportunities where I could see them.

Oh, and then I changed the ending.

In the end you'll do it in your own way. Good luck.

flyingtart

The pub!!! :)

Congratulations!

dorothyd

put it away. You need to distance yourself from it so you come back with fresh eyes.
Go write something else entirely.

Dwight

Well done, Skip. Great feeling, isn't it. You could start your big re-edit, along the lines PBW did, and taking a break does bring new light to it when you reconsider what you wrote 'back then'. However it is still your own view and your own lights, which tend to be limited. At some stage before submitting your book to agents/editors, you will need informed/professional opinion to go through it and tell you the objective truth - if you have a tough enough skin. Did someone ever tell you that such-and-such a great writer wrote their first published novel without being told what it needed to save it? If so, they were probably lying. It was my sad experience to find that my heavy edits still left me with an unsaleable book which needed alterations that I would never ever have made without professional guidance.

So there's still a lot to do, but courage, Skip: if you've written a whole novel, you've got the inspiration and the power of perseverance to go all the way.

Marc.B

Hi Skip!

Well done! I don't know what your experience of writing is but if you are a 'novice' you may want to get someone experienced, particularly in the genre, to give it a once over. All the best with it, and keep it up.

Marc

Jan

Congratulations Skip,

That's the first hurdle climbed, now you have a few bridges to cross.
As already mentioned, it is best to set that manuscript on a shelf and allow dust to camouflage its edges. Occupy body and mind with other activities, read a novel or similar work to distract, be physically energetic. In a few weeks, when your eye happens to see the dusty layer, reclaim that quiet corner and read with fresh interpretation.
You'll be impressed with some and appalled at other segments of this four year exercise.
Once you have cut and carved to present satisfaction you may approach an unbiased reading friend (or three) to seek opinion. Should this be your first full production, it probably won't reach the publishing world, your mind will be exploding with "what if...." scenarios that will create far more fluid reading.

Good luck and savour the journey.

Skip

Hi Guys,

I'd like to say a great big thank-you for all the advice and congratulations re my novel. What I didn't say was that it is a murder mystery set in South London, where I used to live.
I read advice on other sites that say 'put it away' and forget about it. I have done that for 3 weeks but i'm itching to get back to it! Along the way writing this novel, I did a course with Writers' News and I have to sya my tutor was fantastic - always encouraging and heaps of advice. No way would I have completed it without him.

I have to say also that I feel a little 'empty' without those characters in my everyday life now - weird eh? I did read a couple of pages of the first chapter the other day and thought 'oh my god, did I really write that - its awful!' My writing has changed so much over the four years it has taken me to write it.

I think i'll put it aside for another couple of weeks if I can! and concentrate on some non-fiction - something totally different.
Thanks again everyone, much appreciated,
Skip

Jan

[quote=Skip]I feel a little 'empty' without those characters in my everyday life[/quote]
Explains it all, hence need to distract in any manner possible.

You obviously appreciate all the foregoing sentiment, reading [quote=Skip]something totally different[/quote] will help. Ideally wait until another distraction has pushed those present "companions" from prominence. Some of Talkback's "nonsense" threads are an ideal therapy for such achievement.

Stan2

Good news, Skip. I wish you well in finding a publisher after the editing and polishing...

Skip

Thank you Stan2,
Much appreciated,

Skip

Skip

Thank you Jan,

Skip

Lou Treleaven

Good luck - it's great that you can't wait to get back to it! Although the general consensus is that you should hide your novel away for a while, I think if you are keen then go for it. After all, it's four years since you've seen those opening chapters!

I love that stage. The main effort is over - now have fun taking it to the next level!

Skip

Hi Lou,

thanks for your comments. Yep, its hard to put it away and forget about it and what you say makes a lot of sense.

Hopefully i'll have a lot of fun taking it to the next level - i'm thinking all the time how I want to change things, etc.

I wonder if i'll ever be happy with it...now there's a whole new topic!

Skip (Lynn)

lexia

Well done Skip, on completing your novel. Four years IS a long time and I can well understand you wanting to get back to it straight away.
I think the advice given is good but in the end only you know what you feel like doing now - after all it is your baby.

As for ever being happy with it, well, don't re work it too much and spoil it !

Good luck with this work and anything else you are working on.


[/quote]

Skip

Hi Lexia,

Thanks for your thoughts - I agree with you re re-working it too much. I will certainly try not to go down that path.

Good luck with your writing too - this is a great forum and i'm glad I asked for comments. So many have taken time to reply and been very encouraging.

Skip