You\u2019ve done it! Finished that first draft. Now what? <\/p>\n
I recommend giving yourself some space before looking at it again, if time permits. A couple of weeks\u2019 worth, at least. Clear your head. Read a novel. Write something else, or plan your next book. Then, when it\u2019s time to work through the edits, here are three elements you won\u2019t want to leave unaddressed: <\/p>\n
Unanswered questions:<\/b> If you ask a story-related question anywhere in the story (a question for readers to ponder, not a question in dialogue), make sure you answer it by story\u2019s end. Of course, this includes the<\/i> story question. <\/p>\n
Unresolved threads:<\/b> Whether you plot everything ahead or your write as you go, you\u2019ll have various threads that weave through your story. As you\u2019re editing your rough draft, be sure you tie up those threads. Writing is all about the reader, so one of an author\u2019s goals is to satisfy the reader. They\u2019ve invested in your characters and your story, satisfy them by tying up loose threads. That\u2019s not to say you have to \u201cdot every i,\u201d but be sure that if you leave an unanswered question\/unresolved thread in the reader\u2019s mind, it was intentional, (i.e. for readers to ponder once they\u2019ve finished the novel), and that the story is better for that choice to leave that thread unresolved. Here\u2019s what I do: make notes as you\u2019re reading the rough draft to follow (focus on) your threads all the way through the story. You might even go through the manuscript and specifically highlight every line, paragraph, or scene that relates with each thread so you can follow their individual arcs. <\/p>\n
Unechoed themes: <\/b>Recently, I was working on my own project and discovered a theme in chapter one that I didn\u2019t recall echoing enough later in the story. Books are more satisfying when the themes echo throughout. What do I mean by \u201cechoing themes?\u201d Writers can revisit themes in many different ways, including symbolism, via repetition and\/or contrast in other characters, etc. The key is to ensure your themes reappear and therefore have greater impact. <\/p>\n
Your turn:<\/b> what other areas need to be answered, resolved, or echoed in your final draft? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You\u2019ve done it! Finished that first draft. Now what? I recommend giving yourself some space before looking at it again, if time permits. A couple of weeks\u2019 worth, at least. Clear your head. Read a novel. Write something else, or plan your next book. Then, when it\u2019s time to work through the edits, here are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}