Bugger me, I think its finished.

Ok, maybe not finished finished - I have a scene to try and edit in that currently is in a seperate document, and I need to round off the odd chapter - I've put in ??? to say 'Something more, possibly'.

But after 15 months (I had a long break in the middle, - not stressed enough) and 117,255 words (plus the bit to be dropped in) I have a novel that can be read as such.

Now just need to tighten up the start, make sure the continuity works, and correct a few pages. THEN start the editing of the first draft.

BUT

I actually have a novel.

Bugger. That's a bit scary. Never written anything this long before

Congrats. <3 I hope I can make it to that point as well.

Congrats! You're already ahead of most of the people on this forum.

Just to clarify, is this the rough draft, or have you already did macro- and micro-revision? I can refer you to some writing articles that can give you some direction to what to do next, before you consider either submitting your manuscript to agents or preparing it for self-publishing.

Thanks

chihuahua That would be helpful. I am painfully aware that it is just the first draft. Like I say there are bits I need to check it is actually finished, and the first opening is a bit flabby and needs to have this extra scene dropped in. Its been revised in fits and starts as I go- editing has helped inspiration, but once I've got it into a definate final form, I will read through looking for corrections etc, then let a freind who has been very supportive, and seen it in bits, have a complete read through.

With those caveats it is in a position where someone could read it (on the understanding there are bits that need tightening) as a complete work.

I have a functioning chair, it may be a bit uncomfortable, but as soon as I knock off the rough edges I can sand and paint it, and put a nice cushion on it.

My only problem is I have two endings - Happy and Bitter-sweet, and I don't know which one to use!

edited 22nd Feb '13 9:38:28 AM by LastHussar

If you can acquire a few beta readers, I would recommend giving some the bittersweet ending and some the happy ending, and see the response.

Just don't be like me.

My "first draft" of my post-Cyberpunk story was finished ages ago (after undergoing a number of radical changes from how I originally envisioned it and becoming a completely different story) and is now in a state similar to what you describe - bits that need tidying up, bits flagged with "insert relevant shit here" or "research this more" etc - and has been that way for quite a few years now.

I've not even really looked at it for the last few years, not since the last time I looked at how much "tidying" it needs and threw up my hands.

That's my fear too! I use ??? as a marker to show where I want to review. According to Word I have 9 ??? in the 400 pages (double spaced A4). Not sure how to approach the edit - should I leave it so the whole thing leaves my head, then come back to it fresh?

The 'drop in' scene has been dropped in, so its the sand and polish now.

Coming back fresh after a break has its benefits.

A colour-coding system can be helpful for going through and looking at pacing of your work as you'd be able to see at a glance how much exposition, action, dialogue etc is on any given page.

Tedious work going through the MS and colour coding it but it has the advantages in the long run of being able to highlight large blocks of any one thing.

Beta readers might be able to spot inconsistences that have crept in like changes in voice or POV that are jarring.

It is quite dialogue heavy, mainly because it's people trying to resolve relationships.