Almost

[horseman]

Closing in on finishing the first draft of my struggling novel. Have had a nightmare with punctuation and run on crap. Now that I feel Im winding up to a climax, I'm becoming bored with how I have structured the whole ending. Does this ever happen to any of you? Maybe its just the new author jitters.

[Richard]

Jan 5, 2012 17:57:32 GMT -5 horseman said:

Closing in on finishing the first draft of my struggling novel. Have had a nightmare with punctuation and run on crap. Now that I feel Im winding up to a climax, I'm becoming bored with how I have structured the whole ending. Does this ever happen to any of you? Maybe its just the new author jitters.

I wouldn't be against structure. Even artists have to use some sort of structure in their work for it to be widely understood, otherwise people in general just can't relate to it.

If you use an editor, I wouldn't worry too much about the editing issues.

I usually have one or two well read people go over my final drafts and make notations, in color, (word program copies) and send them back to me. Then I go over it a final time, then off to the editor and we have several back and forth mailings until it is finalized.

Finishing a project like this can evoke a wide array of emotions. It is a very personal experience.

Don't worry about it. Stick it on the "shelf" for a while if you need to.

[horseman]

Thanks Richard! I do believe it would help if I had someone else check it over. I thought about putting a short insert on here, and let some of you give me your opinions. What do you think? Makes me a nervous wreck though. I'm working with the yWriter 5 program, so it would be easy to post scenes or chapters onto this site.

[Richard]

Jan 8, 2012 14:29:26 GMT -5 horseman said:

Thanks Richard! I do believe it would help if I had someone else check it over. I thought about putting a short insert on here, and let some of you give me your opinions. What do you think? Makes me a nervous wreck though. I'm working with the yWriter 5 program, so it would be easy to post scenes or chapters onto this site.

If you have any choice pieces which make you wonder whether or not they sound right, post a snippet in the critique section.

What I do is, once I'm finished, go back and read it as a whole while only making minor adjustments. If you try to make wholesale changes, you will never be finished.

Then give it to someone you trust, judgment, and let them read it and give you feedback.

If you know someone who is an avid reader, of the genre you are writing, this would be best.

It all comes down to you, so don't let others re-write what you are happy with. It is your book.

[horseman]

Thanks again Richard, sounds like a plan. I think I will try the snippet thing. Alot of my problem...(I think)... is in writing dialogue. I'm going to try a piece in the critique section. Let me know what you think.