Minds out of the gutters, people. This is a writing blog.
The universe works in a strange series of conincidences. I’ve been pondering this for a few days now (yes, I actually use words like ‘pondering’ in every-day speech), but unable to put it into a cohesive thought. Then I stumbled on Death of a Delusion, and the pieces clicked that I needed to make a cohesive thought.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about: first novels. I hear so many people talking about how proud they were of finishing their first novel. How amazing the feeling was, how awesome they thought the prose was, and how once it was all done, they just expected the money and book offers to start rolling in. And anyone who takes the time to put that many words on paper in a cohesive thought should be proud – that’s a milestone worthy of celebration.
There’s more to all of their stories, though. “Then I handed it over to a critique group/started querying agents/started submitting to publishers, and was flayed alive by the honest feedback.” Being butterflied may have been more painful, but only just.
Anyway (sorry, don’t know where the imagary came from :-P) I know this story and I feel for anyone who tells it because I’ve lived it. The thing is, I have learned (and I think) grown from the experience. My first novel only vaugely resembles what it did two and a half years ago. I’ve all but deleted the original and started from scratch. The story is still the same, but the delivery is very different. I’m about to try and query it; this will be my second effort with the querying process. I sucked at that the first time around, too, and it was with a different novel.
This is what I’m thinking about. I hear a lot of people say that since they’ve started trying to get published, or even since they’ve had a manuscript or two accepted, they’ve realized their first ever story isn’t ‘good enough’. That alpha try has been shelved. I can’t imagine doing that: that first book took a lot of work.
So what I’m wondering, dear authors, have you or would you shelve your first novel? And is it because you hold it to close to your heart to edit it to the point where it is publishable, or is it for other reasons? Or am I just being blissfully optimistic about my own first book? Or something else entirely?
I’m shelving my first one and second one. The first one is a mess (it’s also, ironically, the one I’m working on again.) and the second one just isn’t there.
But it doesn’t bother me. I think of it this way, if they don’t get published, that means nobody can tear them apart, and thus they’ll always be “safe” with me.
It’s up to you, though. People have published their first novel.
Hi,
I found you through the Blog Hop. I took a look around and thought that your blog is great! So I decided to follow you. Anyway, check out my blog as well: http://johnsmithbooks.blogspot.com/
Warmest regards,
John Smith
P.S. – I’m working on the rough draft of my first novel. I am going to finish it and get it ready for publishing. It will take a lot of work, but I’m going to do it. Just try and stop me!
I barely admit to having written my first novel. It’s a cool idea, and I plan to go back to it someday, but it’s just not good enough to be published. My second novel has been queried and rejected numerous times, and I’m about to do a huge rewrite on it to see if I can make it better. My third is still in the editorial process after 25 years, and my fourth, the one I’ve only just finished, is actually in pretty good shape. I’m hoping to be ready to query it by the end of the year…
Like everything, writing books takes practice,
X K8
I had a moment of doubt today – not liking even the newest version of #1 – but I still think it’s salvagable.
@John – thanks for stopping by 🙂 I hit up your blog and it’s definitely worth following ^_^
@Ashy – interesting way to look at it, and one I understand. I don’t like the thought of anyone tearing any of my work apart anyway, but my first novels are definitely closer to my heart than some other stories.
@Kate – 25 years? You’ve got me beat. I’m only at about 20 😉
Okay. Well, my first finished novel (I started a few before it and finished one of those a year later) was done during nanowrimo 2008. It’s a romance/erotica novel that has over 56,000 words. The first draft is viewable on writing.com and when I was writing the last couple chapters I had some random person read the whole thing. Seriously. I didn’t know them and they read the book and liked it.
However, it’s pushed back for now because I don’t want my main genre/focus to be romance/erotica. I don’t mind getting published eventually in it under a pen name but for now my focus is on the fantasy/sci-fi novels. I have 2 different first drafts finished and one is being edited.
But I still like that first novel. Does it need rewritten? Yes. Will the whole story/plog change? No. It needs some reorganization, some chapters I forgot during the mad rush of nanowrimo added, and some chapters I wrote just so I know what he has been through will be cut. But the so far, most my rewritten stories don’t have that huge overhaul that changes the book entirely.