by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I am getting ever closer to wrapping up the first draft of this novel I’ve been working on in various ways for several years now. I’m quite pleased. If nothing else, I have the infrastructure of a pop novel built out. The question is, of course, if I can imbue the second draft with enough spunk that Beta Readers will actually finish the whole thing without too much prompting.
It’s still tough for me to consume anyone else’s media. I’m so critical of my own writing that when I turn that brutal criticism on other people’s work I just can’t bear to consume it.
It’s become a real problem, especially since I need to read other people’s work in my genre if nothing else so I can get a better sense of how to serve my intended audience.
But, I definitely feel as though I’ve finally reached a point in this process that I’ve been struggling to attain for years now. I’m going to soon enter the stage of all of this where I can’t be delusional anymore. I’m going to have to be a lot more realistic about how to address issues like length and marketability.
At the moment, there’s a chance that I’m going to blow past the 100,000 word sweetspot by as much as 40,000 words. But this is just the first draft. Even though I’m going just follow the general outline I have for the first draft when the writing the second draft, there is still a lot tinkering to be done.
I’m still — at the moment — on track to start querying in fall 2023. Only time will tell, I suppose, however. A lot could change — both good and bad — between now and then.
