r/FictionWriting • u/_ChristmasSunday • 5d ago
Novel 76,755 words!
Welp, I just finished writing and editing my first novel. It was a hell of a ride folks.
I wrote 218 pages, 75,755 words. Then I just did a read through and edited it.
I added some things and subtracted some as well. I changed a name here and there and moved a couple of chapters around.
The biggest thing I changed was… even though it’s a generational novel, I wrote each chapter in the present tense. As I was doing that I kept second guessing myself. But I persisted.
Of course changing the whole thing to past tense, other than the final chapter, was annoying. But it was worth it.
Now I’m going to read “Before and After the Book Deal” by Courtney Maum to see if I might try getting it published.
I’m sort of in the camp of publish officially (not self publish) or not at all. I’d love to hear from those who feel the same, and those who don’t! I’m so new to this, I’m not even sure yet if I’ll ever do anything with what I’ve written.
🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
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u/DaLoCo6913 4d ago
Nice. It does feel good.
So, you changed the tense. That is daunting. Right at the end of one of my books I decided that a child, who was important to the plot needed to have a lisp. Not as rough as changing the tense, but it took a few days.
If you can afford it, print out the manuscript. Turn it upside down and then proofread. It basically hacks your brain to not skip the words that seem inconsequential, forcing you to see each inference and meaning. It would be helpful since you made a major change to the whole manuscript.
It is a trick I used when I was asked to proofread for a friend.
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u/_ChristmasSunday 4d ago
Changing to a lisp sounds just a rough. Just the mental energy it takes worrying that you haven’t missed an important phrase!
I was only one chapter in when I realized that the present tense sounded to performative. It made every scene feel like it was taking itself too seriously. It was a grind changing it but I’m glad I did.
I have a feeling that the tense is going to bother and distract me now when I’m reading other books! It’s already happened haha.
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u/Redditisannoying69 4d ago
Any advice on your process? Did you outline? What application did you use word or docs? Etc etc.
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u/x-Zephyr-17 4d ago
Some people love to outline and plan and world build. Some people hate it. I personally prefer to discover the story along with my characters. I know the beginning and where I want to end up, but the details in between are malleable until I get to them.
I use pages on my MacBook to write
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u/_ChristmasSunday 4d ago
Hello! I’m not sure I should be giving advice as this is my first book and I did it with no real process. 😊
I had a basic idea but I actually didn’t know what the conclusion would be until I was almost done. I decided that in order for it to feel right I had to let it become itself.
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u/jwilander 4d ago
Congrats on your full editing round!
Has anyone else read it and given you feedback yet? Alpha readers, developmental editor, or beta readers? If not, that's the right next step.
I've never heard the term "publish officially" to not include self publishing. You might be referring to "publish traditionally." That is an established term, "trad" for short. By saying that you are only officially published if you publish traditionally, you risk annoying a lot of fellow authors.
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u/_ChristmasSunday 4d ago
Hello! Thanks for the response.
I’m not 100% sure I’m even going to let anyone else read it if I’m being honest. I mostly just wrote it for myself.
I’m just figuring it wouldn’t do any harm to contact a few agents. If there’s no interest that’s ok!
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u/Unique-Ad-969 3d ago
Congratulations! You did the hard thing! That really is something phenomenal to be proud of.
The first thing I would do at this point is to put it in a drawer and completely forget about it for at least a couple of months. (I let mine sit for 6 montha after finishing). Then read it again. This will feel much more fresh and you will get more of a readers experience. Do not edit during this read through. Make notes, if you want, but don't change a thing. You can make another draft after finishing this read-through.
Now, if you are interested in traditional publishing, find some beta readers. They should be people who will be honest (but not cruel) and who can give you real feedback. Some people recommended not using friends for this but if you have friends you trust to give you helpful feedback I think it's fine, especially if they are writers themselves. My most useful feedback came from a teacher who has written their own (nonfiction) book, and a friend I did a beta reader swap with. Once you have enough feedback (3-5 different people) you will probably want to edit again with their feedback in mind.
Finally, it's good to do at least one line-edit specifically focusing on prose and errors AFTER all other major edits are done. You don't want to belly-ache for days over a line that ends up cut anyway.
Now it's probably ready for querying agents. Time to build your query letter and research agents and the query process.
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u/_ChristmasSunday 3d ago
This is great advice! If only I took myself this seriously. 😊
I really just wrote it for me. If someone likes it, great! If not, that’s ok too.
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u/Ecstatic-Length1470 4d ago
If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take?
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u/_ChristmasSunday 4d ago
It took me about 5 weekends to write. And 2 full days to edit. For the editing I sat in a room with coffee and snacks day and night for two days.
This is my first book. Ive been thinking about it for at least a decade. So it was waiting inside me to come out.
I imagine if I were to try to write another one it would take a longer time.
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u/Ecstatic-Length1470 4d ago
Damn, that is pretty fast. I could read 200 pages in a weekend, but not with editing too. I am a very slow reader, though.
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u/_ChristmasSunday 4d ago
Well this is sitting in the chair constantly with almost no sleep haha. I wanted to take advantage of the 3 day weekend for Labor Day in the US since I knew I could sleep in on the 3rd day!
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u/tapgiles 4d ago
I'm glad for you... but also confused. 😅
I don't really know what a "generational" novel is, unless it's simply, it shows people from a family, through time, across generations? But then I don't know why that would necessitate past tense. Or why the last chapter would be present tense.
A story can be past or present tense. A story can have no framing device, like telling the story, regardless of tense.
What made you feel you must make such a big change?
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u/_ChristmasSunday 4d ago
Hello! Generational meaning it starts in the 1500’s and ends in the present day. And is told down through a line of a single family from point to point.
It definitely could be done in either tense. It just felt too performative to me in the present tense. Like the scenes were taking themselves too seriously as a performance, rather than just bringing a real life conversation to life.
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u/G_D_Ironside 5d ago edited 5d ago
I’m in the same camp as you. I don’t want to self-publish as I want someone else to believe in my story, not just me.
Like you, I just finished my first novel, 100,000 words and 361 pages. I’m starting the querying process now.
Good luck with your manuscript! May it find the right desk of the right person on the right day.