Hello (I made an account like 20 months ago but never said hello) + Novel Revision help

[TimothyDovekeeper]

Hello, everyone! My name is Timothy!
As the title reveals, I created an account a while ago. It is late, so I will make this concise:
I am from a STEM background as an undergrad. However, my writing journey started when my parents "made" me read a ton (I enjoyed it too) growing up. Then, after Sophomore year of undergrad, I was joking with my sisters about writing a princess story with them, and said I would.
Here I am, years and 185K+ words later (One sister wrote one word, the other wrote 200). I graduated from undergraduate college, and now I need to edit the mammoth I created (I should have plenty of time for the next 15 months at least). It is not a princess story but a coming-of-age, archaic, world-building fantasy story. Not sure about genre, but leaning towards epic. I ditched the princess for 150K words, in fact.
So, nine months since I did anything major, I know I need to read it through (I want to in 3 weeks, but that might be much).
Any other overall tips? I know I need to rewrite a ton (it seems introspective versus action-oriented), but I am a committed type person, and I am committed to this, and I know a lot of the users here know their stuff, so I would love tips, and you all already taught me a good bit via your comments over the years.

 

[Pen_Warrior]

The sister who wrote 200 here: it's a great book!

 

[TimothyDovekeeper]

And...this is what happens when you call your sister instead of texting her back...not how I anticipated this thread to go...oh well...

 

[Adam Scribentis]

Welcome! If you're looking for feedback, I'm sure the Critique Request forum on this site will prove helpful.

 

[TimothyDovekeeper]

Ok, thanks, that was locked for me, but one more post! Also, looking for overall tips to go from a first to second draft.

 

[RoccO]

It sounds like a good premise. The over all tone of the piece sounds like it might need a bit of work, though.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Welcome. And congrats on finishing the first draft. That's an amazing achievement you can be proud of.

Tips for editing: First, read through it. Don't edit (much at least...). On this read-through, you have 2 jobs:
- The first is, be honest with yourself about how good the book is (both the prose and the plot). Based on that, decide if it's worth investing the time to edit and rewrite it, or if it's better to start the next project, using all you learned.
- The second is to take lots of note. On everything. Does the plot work? How does the pacing feel? What is the character arc of the protagonist? Which parts need to be cut or expanded? And so on.

After you've finished reading through it, look at your notes, and sit down to do the second draft. Now, everyone's process is different. But the most common advice (especially for people still learning their process) is to start the next draft or edit with a focus on improving a specific thing, and to work from big to small.

So in the next draft, work on getting the plot right first and / or the character journey. And only once that's in good shape, start focussing on more detail level stuff, like getting the character voices (especially for smaller characters) right. And only then start polishing the prose, and so on. There's little point in make the prose perfect if you then just cut the chapter because it doesn't fit the story anymore.

Most of all, enjoy the process.

 

[xena]

Hello, everyone! My name is Timothy!
As the title reveals, I created an account a while ago. It is late, so I will make this concise:
I am from a STEM background as an undergrad. However, my writing journey started when my parents "made" me read a ton (I enjoyed it too) growing up. Then, after Sophomore year of undergrad, I was joking with my sisters about writing a princess story with them, and said I would.
Here I am, years and 185K+ words later (One sister wrote one word, the other wrote 200). I graduated from undergraduate college, and now I need to edit the mammoth I created (I should have plenty of time for the next 15 months at least). It is not a princess story but a coming-of-age, archaic, world-building fantasy story. Not sure about genre, but leaning towards epic. I ditched the princess for 150K words, in fact.
So, nine months since I did anything major, I know I need to read it through (I want to in 3 weeks, but that might be much).
Any other overall tips? I know I need to rewrite a ton (it seems introspective versus action-oriented), but I am a committed type person, and I am committed to this, and I know a lot of the users here know their stuff, so I would love tips, and you all already taught me a good bit via your comments over the years.

Welcome, Timothy!

185K+ words is impressive, especially for a story that started as a joke with your sisters. Congradulations for finishing your first draft!