You've finished your first draft. Now what?

Congratulations! You’ve drafted your first novel. This has likely taken you months, if not years. You’ve written it over your lunch breaks, in the evenings, and stolen chunks of time on weekends. You are excited to let others read it, to share your story with the world!

What now?

Put your manuscript in a drawer and walk away. Or leave it on your computer desktop and don’t touch it. I’m not kidding.

When I read about this advice in a writing group years ago, I was extremely skeptical. I was on the writer’s high of finishing a big project — the first of many. How could time away help? The whole point of being an author is having someone else read your work. Even though it’s a big, scary risk, shouldn’t I have been looking for people to read my story? Not yet.

When I first wrote my first book, an unpublished contemporary romance, I was chomping at the bit to have others read it. I was sooo nervous, but for some reason thought the set-your-manuscript-aside advice wasn’t for me. I was hopeful (ahem, cocky) enough to think that my beta readers would absolutely love it. I secretly hoped they would advise that minimal changes were needed. I giggle when I think about it today because that first contemporary romance I penned was rough. The male main character was straight-up unlikable, there were consistency problems, and parts of the story were just too unrealistic for a contemporary romance. Yet, the negative feedback was good. It made me realize I needed to take more time to consider the actual story.

Save yourself from my mistake. Walk away from your book and leave it alone for at least two weeks. Longer, if you can. You want to have forgotten much of the story. Yes, you will remember the major plot points, but you want to be at a point where you don’t recall many of the small details or the timing of a certain events. You want to be able to read it with a fresh perspective.

At the end of this time period, I re-read my book. Front to back, making no edits other than a couple of general notes. I implore you: do not start editing your work right away (you know that editing is next, right? Tell me you know that LOTS of editing comes next. No first draft is perfect). Enjoy, cringe, and become curious. Ask yourself questions about the characters, their development, and if the story solves their internal and external struggles. Are there themes you notice that are too heavy-handed or that you didn’t even mean to add? Do you wish you’d added more or cut certain parts of the plot? How is the story’s consistency? Does your character love apples at the beginning, then you find a random spot where they proclaim to hate apples? It’s a silly question but more often than not, there are huge inaccuracies in the text that you notice on the first read through.

Once you’re finished, consider your work. Take your time. Each genre has certain conventions. Familiarize yourself with your genre’s rules and confirm that your book has met the criteria. For instance, in the romance genre, the story must end with an HEA (happily ever after). This is what the readers expect, even if it spans the course of 3 books. If you do not deliver this, you have not written a romance. It can be classified as a fiction book with heavy romantic themes; however, it should not be marketed as a romance. If you haven’t already researched these genre conventions before writing your novel, the time is now.

Finally, consider: did you enjoy your story? Consult your notes, if you made any. If you didn’t, re-read your novel and note the parts you want to cut, what needs to be added, where there are continuity errors, and if anything feels “off.” Often, I get stuck in my book’s world or caught up with what the characters are doing and have to pull myself back to gain a bird’s-eye view. I have to release my own assumptions that the scenes are set in stone and consider them fluid. Sometimes a scene works better at a different point in your story. I would advise against line edits unless there are glaring dialogue or description pieces that need to be adjusted for clarity and flow. That will come later.

After this general edit, I would set the story aside again. Not for as long as the first stretch of time, but enough to give you a little break. You want to be able to see if the sections or chapters you moved around read better when you go through them a third time (yes, you read that right — I hope you love your characters because you will be spending lots of time with them).

At this point, my advice splits. Some authors like getting beta readers to review their story and give opinions before working on the story more. Others like to complete a line edit to clean up the manuscript before sending away. Either is fine, it’s all what you’re comfortable with. I will write another post on the editing process, so stay tuned. And, remember, your best work is a marathon, not a sprint.