Hello, happy to be here.

[JBCrowson]

Hi everyone, I'm a rank amateur dabbling in the dark arts (writing not necromancy).
I have just finished the first draft of the first book in a seven volume series. Now the glow of actually reaching the milestone of a full draft of something (anything), has begun to fade, I'm thinking "OK so what now?"
I hope to be able to receive advice and feedback, to help me answer that question. If I can offer either to others here, that's good too.
When I'm not writing I'm a father of three boys, an awful pianist, and sometimes a geriatric psychiatrist.

 

[pmmg]

Congrats on finishing your first book.

Welcome here JBCrowson.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Welcome!

congrats on finishing your novel! It's a great achievement not many people reach.

From here the most commonly adviced next steps are:
- celebrate!
- let it rest for a while. Most people say 3-6 weeks at a minimum. This will let you get some distance from your work
- reread it. (take notes while rereading)
- if it's decent, edit it
- if it's great, give it to other people to read
- if it's terrible, write it again
- ask for feedback, from others.
- celebrate some more.

Note, this is just general advice. I don't wait for several weeks to start editing. But that's just because my brain is very good at forgetting anything I wrote, and I don't mind taking a red pen to my own work. And at the same time, I've got lots of ideas on how to improve my work when I'm done. But that's just me.