First Novels and When to Move On

by Katy White

In 2007, I started my first novel.  The idea jumped into my head, took root, and within four or five months, I'd written about 120,000 words.  I loved it.  I thought it was awesome.  I sent it to a couple of friends who gave me feedback and I realized that it wasn't one book, it was three!  So I started from scratch again and wrote the first and second books, now around 90,000 words each.  I wrote an uber rough draft of the third that was around 60,000 words.  I loved this series so, so much.  There aren't enough o's in "so" to tell you how much I loved it.  

I made some connections after these new rough drafts and realized that the first book actually needed a major overhaul to incorporate all of my epiphanies (the sexy villain was actually the mentor's son?  WHAT?!), which I did.  Then I took a break of, honestly, about three years.  I didn't touch it, but I probably thought about it every day.  I came back to the story in 2011 and rewrote the first draft again, and rewrote the second book, too.  I sent it out to friends, and, after getting more feedback, I realized I started in the wrong place.  I decided to tell all my backstory through "Lost" style flashbacks (a nod to Gina for her post about the benefits of TV watching.).  I made those changes, and the feedback now from my readers was awesome.  Everyone loved it.  

It was time to see what agents thought.  I started querying.  My first batch of five queries led to a request for a partial with one of my dream agents.  HOLY COW!!  A week later when I was rejected, I reminded myself it was a number's game.  I kept submitting in batches of five every week, getting two more partial requests over the following month.  I was encouraged by the requests, discouraged by the rejections, and confused about what it meant that, after around thirty queries, I hadn't received a request for a full.

So I entered a couple of contests for my first five pages--and I even won one of them!--but after getting half my manuscript, even that agent rejected me.  Fortunately, though, she gave me very detailed, very helpful feedback.  My entry had some problems, but just as big a problem was the fact that my genre wasn't selling right now.   At a major writer's conference only a few months earlier, a panel of editors and agents explained that they wouldn't take on a book in my genre, period.  It was dead.  Over.

So was, oh, five, six years worth of my work.  At least, that was my initial thought. 

Since letting this book--this series--go in early 2013, I've written two new books.  Meanwhile, I spent a single year querying, revising, entering contests, re-querying, rinse, repeat.  But I honestly don't feel like I wasted a single second of my time with that first attempt.  Because I needed this time to research, to learn how to plot and how to avoid tropes, to learn the ropes of the publishing world.  Most importantly, I needed this experience to teach me that it's okay to move on.  It's okay to love your book and want to live in that world, and to still let it go.  If you love something, set it free, and all that jazz.  Right?

One of my favorite authors, Malcolm Gladwell, explains in his book "Outliers" the rule of 10,000 hours.  He says to achieve mastery in a particular field, one must spend 10,000 hours essentially "practicing" that craft.  Now, even if I wrote two hours a day consistently, every day, for the seven years it's been since I wrote my first word of my first book, that's still only 5110 hours.  A far cry from the 10,000 I need for mastery.  But every one of those words gets me closer. 

A poll of 150 published authors several years ago asked the authors how many novels they wrote before selling their first.  The breakdown is below:

32% wrote one novel
13% wrote two
11% wrote 3
8% wrote 4
9% wrote 5
3% wrote 6
13% wrote 7 or more novels
6% wrote some short fiction first
5% wrote a ton of short fiction first

Over half of these authors had written three or more novels before publishing their first! Some of them indicated that, after they were published, they were able to understand the flaws in their first novel and revise them sufficiently to get them published.  But I hope these numbers are as encouraging to you as they are to me.  Because these tell me that it's okay to let go of your novel.  It's okay to move on--heck, it's probably essential to our success.  

We've all said it a million times:  writers write.  And sometimes, that means shelving the old to make room for something new.

Please, sound off below with your thoughts, tips, and experiences with moving on from your first novel! 

Writing and Re-writing

Here I am, scatterbrained about writing again.  (I initially posted this yesterday instead of my regular Friday.)

I thought by the time I wrote this post, I would have made some progress on my WIP.  (I wrote in my last post about not having worked on it lately.)  But, alas, no.

I did work on it, but I lost the new work to cyberspace.  For some unknown reason, a three-hour chunk of words disappeared this week.  Right after I crafted it.  I saved it and closed it, then went back in to add a last-minute thought.   And it wasn't there.

I looked everywhere I could think of.  I refreshed the page.  Nothing.  That block of material was gone.  It was midnight, so I thought maybe I was just brain-dead, and the recent work would appear the next day.

It did not.  Days later, I still can't find it.  I've moped and griped and prayed that God would make it appear, but so far...nothing.

Years ago, I lost seventeen pages of a novel I was working on.  Seventeen pages.  It made me sick.   Because I was younger and had the time, I sat down and re-wrote all of it in an afternoon.  I was obsessed about getting it all back. 

I'm not so obsessed this time.  I'm surely disappointed that my time and effort have been swallowed by an unidentifiable source, but it crossed my mind today that maybe that chunk of work wasn't that great.  Already, I'm thinking, when I re-write it, I'm going to make changes.  Maybe writing at midnight isn't the best idea.  Maybe scrolling through facebook the hour before writing isn't the best idea either.  I don't know.  I write in fits and starts between care taking and doctor appointments and endless errands and laundry.  I should be happy I get anything written at all.

And I am.  Most days nothing gets lost.  I have a computer that works well (I hope I didn't just jinx that.)  I have loved ones who support my love of writing.  I have eyes that pick up most typos and a good thesaurus.  I have fingers that work.

So, with a deep breath, I'll start over tomorrow.  I'll try to conjure up what I tapped out last week, only make it better.  I'll roar at the cyber monsters to not eat my stuff.  I'll write, whether it gets lost or not, published or not, whether it's good or not.

Because that's what writers do.

Saturday So What: Mommy Writer's Guilt

I have an epic case of Mommy Writer's Guilt. I am neck deep in revisions and the changes that I thought would be easy, have ended up altering the entire structure of my book. Characters are falling by the wayside.  Lost and forgotten.  Including the two most important characters... my kids.

I have an almost 3 yr old and a 5 and half yr old. I'm worried that for the last week and the next one to come, they are orphans. My husband is going to school full time and in the middle of finals. When he's home, he's locked in his office.And I have spent at least 40 hours this week making the editorial revisions. Trying to meet my deadline in a week and a half.

If I don't lock myself away, then I am constantly distracted by the screaming and guts flying everywhere. Don't worry-- it was just the Teddy Bear's. He pulled through the reconstructive surgery. If I wait until they are asleep, I can only make it until 10 oclock before my brain turns to mush.

To make matters worse, next week I start school again too. For five hours a day, the little ones are going to be shipped off to grandma's, summer camp, or whoever else I can get to take them. I feel horrible. Up until this year, I have been a stay at home mom who's main task of the day was making sure the kids had bathtime.

 I am used to spending every waking moment with my kids. They still follow me to the bathroom. Now I'm seeing them less and less. Normally, I try not to let my WIP take time from my kids. I write during preschool or dance class. But schools out, and the deadline is looming.

Am I just making excuses by saying that it's only temporary? Just another week and then when I'm home.. I'm all theirs? Or am I horrible mommy neglecting my kids?

Do you struggle with writing and other pursuits getting in the way of family time? What do you do? Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Sorry that this isn't my normal upbeat kind of post, but I wanted to share what I was feeling.

Hopefully I can survive the next 8 days, but if not, you can read me post mortem :) This week's posts are De-Sensitivity Training for the Zombie Apocalypse and The Incredible Shrinking Catwoman.

Saturday So What: Flight of the Bumblebee

Today's So What is brought to by this little guy.  And today I am going to endeavor to be a little more like him.

No, I'm not going to make honey, or sting someone (even though they totally deserve it).  Let me tell you a little something about my striped friend here. According to aerodynamics, this little guy shouldn't even be able to fly. His wings are just too small for the mass density ration of his body. So why do you think he can fly?

Because nobody's told him he can't.

This is the way I think we should be as people, but specifically I wanted to focus on being that way as authors. At the LDStorymakers conference recently, I met a ton of highly intelligent and talented authors.  We would chat at the dinner table and the topic would inevitably boil down to whether or not we had been published. I would whip out my spiffy little card that had my blogs and release dates for my two books. Then they would tell me this, "Well I really hope to be published one day." Some had been honing their craft for ten years. Some had been working on their manuscript for almost that long.

I was shocked! I read through a few of their manuscripts or queries. Some were really good. So why hadn't they been published? Most often, because someone along the way had told them that they can't. Or even worse, told them what they should.
You should have at least 15 drafts and rewrites before it is ready for public consumption.
You should never try to publish your first book.
You should spend at least a year polishing a manuscript before sending it off.
You should have exactly x amount of words in each chapter.

Rewind to back at the conference tables. The other person would ask me a few questions about my work, and after hearing their story I was almost embarrassed to admit that it took me 11 weeks from first word to submission. And that I had been a "writer" for all of 6 months now. Cue jaw dropping on the floor. How did I do it? How did I get published on the first try?

Because I had the good fortune to have no clue what I was doing. I had an idea, had a story, and a good friend that believed in me. I didn't know any other authors yet.  I didn't know it was supposed to be hard and be insomnia inducing. I just did it, because nobody told me I couldn't.

Now I know better. I have a huge list of things that every story should have and should do. I am positively agonizing over my current WIP wondering whether or not I am following all the rules.
I should only use this word x amount of times
I should tag my dialogue in a certain way
I should write it, then edit it, then edit it some more

So what's different? For the first two books, I wrote the book I wanted to write without any rules. The only rule was that it had to be something I would want to read. Now I'm so caught up in worrying about what everyone else wants it to be. I can hardly get two pages without being sure I am doing something wrong. Something against the rules.

After beating my head up against a wall for the last two weeks, I've decided that there are no rules. Just plain old good storytelling. That's why we do this right? To twist someone up and bring them into OUR world. Where WE make the rules. Think of some of your favorite books. Did they follow all the dos and dont's? (JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer anyone?) But we fall in love with them anyway.

I challenge you to join me in making the bee your authory-type mascot. Whether you are writing your fifth manuscript or agonizing over your first, forget about all the aerodynamic reasons why you shouldn't be able to fly with it. And just... take off.


You can find me on my other two blogs Finished Being Fat, and Betsy Schow Writer/Mom/Weight Loss Survivor. Until next week, happy flying.

Decisions, Decisions

by Tamara Passey

I’m doing something I don’t normally do. Okay, I’m doing a few things I don’t normally do. The first: I’m rewriting my first draft. The second? I’m asking for opinions. Sure, I ask for opinions on my clothes, hair, cooking, etc. On my writing? That’s harder to do. But this rewriting business is tough stuff. I knew when I was plowing through the rough draft I was leaving myself a few dilemmas to solve. So here I am. I have some decisions to make and I’m enlisting your help.

I want to know what you think about the format I currently have with two main characters and switching POV–every chapter. The first chapter is from Angela’s POV and the second chapter is from Mark’s POV, etc. I happen to like “seeing” or “hearing” both sides of a romance. I like, as a reader, knowing what is going on in each character’s mind – especially when the other characters are not aware of it. It is challenging to write this way for a few reasons, one being the time-line of the narrative. So – I am wondering what you think. Do you like novels with one POV? Do you like multiple POV’s? And can anyone think of a double main character novel they liked? Or didn’t like? Don't hold back. I need all the help I can get. (But you already knew that!)

Thanks & Have a great writing day!