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Sun Feb 28, 2016 6:39 am
Angrynoodles says...



I finished the first draft of my novel a couple of months ago. Then I took several weeks off and before editing, and now, I just fully completed the editing process. It clocks in at 70,324 words and 379,543 characters (including spaces)

Soooooooo what do I do now? Do I read through it again? Get some beta readers? Send it to a publisher? Find an agent? I don't even need an agent, right?
  





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Sun Feb 28, 2016 2:28 pm
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LadySpark says...



First things first: sending your first draft of your novel to a publisher is a bad bad idea. There's not a single writer in the world who could be published based on their first draft. So as exciting as finishing your first draft is, (congratulations, by the way!) take a deeeeeppp breath. Pat yourself on the back, you made it!

There are several ways you can go about your next step! You can either read it over yourself, and begin the editing process, or, you can find a couple of beta readers, have them edit it for you and then begin your editing process. It's really up to you how you edit, it's kind of a personal choice when it comes down to it. I personally will go through and rewrite chapter by chapter to get my story at least readable, and then start working on plot holes/etc. Try different things, see what works for you.

Also, good luck, and congrats again!
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Sun Feb 28, 2016 3:04 pm
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Vervain says...



Since you've finished your second draft already, I'd recommend reading it over again to see if there's anything that needs to be changed. Ask a trustworthy friend or two to help you read it over as well to spot things you might not see!

Basically, the process for dealing with a second draft is the same as the process for dealing with a first. Proofread again, look at your overall plot and character arcs, and ask yourself if the messages and themes you wanted are coming across.

Beta-readers are always a helping hand, just make sure you pick people you know you can trust!
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Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:21 am
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Carlito says...



Congratulations on the novel! Before you start the editing process again, I would take some time away from it. We're talking months. Why? Because that time away from the novel will allow you to truly distance yourself from it. When you come back to it, you'll be able to look at it with brand new eyes and catch the things you wouldn't have caught before.

I know the slow torture of finishing a project and wanting it to be amazing and agent ready right now and not wanting to wait to polish. But trust me, it's so worth it. During your time off from the novel, write something new that is totally unrelated to this project. Give the novel to some beta readers or critique partners that can be kind and supportive, yet give you the honest feedback you'll need to make the novel better. But don't make any changes until you've gotten quite a bit of feedback. See what kinds of themes are coming through in their feedback. Don't base an entire edit off of one person's feedback. Try to synthesize a lot of feedback into one amazing edit. And remember, you don't have to agree with everything a reader says and you don't have use every single suggestion. You're the creative genius behind the story, and at the end of the day it's your story, so do what you think will be best for it.

During your time off, you could immerse yourself in reading about the craft or helping others with their writing (both of which will improve your own writing). You could do some research about what big next step is going to be right for you. If you want to publish, great, there are a lot of avenues to do so.

You mentioned agents. You don't need an agent to publish a novel, but the right agent can help you achieve your writing goals. Agents are very picky and you will be doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't submit your absolute best work to them. You only get one chance per project per agent, and in many cases you only get one chance per project per agent agency.

There are a lot of great articles here on the craft of writing and editing tips. You might find some more helpful stuff in there. I know I've seen posts around the site about agents and the process of finding an agent but I can't think of where they are now. I know there are many users around the site (including myself) that have queried agents and have been through the finding an agent process. I also know there are users around the site that have pursued self-publication. So if you have any more specific questions about either of those avenues, there are many people that would be happy to help!

I definitely think it's smart to have a broad vision of where you want this novel to go and what you want to end up doing with this novel. But right now, try to relax and take some time away from it, and I think your later edits will be better for it. :)

Let me know if you have any additional questions or if I said something confusing (I tend to ramble :p).
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