I've been diligently working on the second draft of my fanrasy novel, and when I got to about the middle of the story, I realized I had gone over the 120k word limit. In fact, I am about 130k and still have a few chapters to wrap up the arc. This came to me as a somewhat sudden realization pretty much forcing me to cut my story in half it I want it to be publishable. That wouldn’t be such a problem if it wasn’t… well half the story. Going over the usual limit for a first novel is bad enough, but ending on a cliff-hanger is even worse… I am honestly at a loss at what to do. Self-publishing is always an option, but I was hoping to find an agent and a publisher, which would have definately boosted my novel’s quality and marketing.
If I do cut it here, I can wrap up a few story lines, but most of my main plot is still unresolved. So I am faced with either redoing my entire plot, again, or mangling the whole thing to fit the word limit for a first novel. I can always drop a few story lines, but I don't really have that many side stories.
What do you guys think? Have you encountered a similar issue?
Any suggestions are warmly welcomed.
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