Absolutely here for this. I'm working on my second book while my first is on submission, It's quite a departure in form and genre, which is both freeing and scary. As I leap into my invented world I feel far less certain of my craft, so I've committed to a week-long tutored fiction course at Moniack Mhor in the north of Scotland at the end of this year. Hoping I'll have the guts of a first draft by then...
This is perfect timing for me. I’ve just sent the third draft of my first novel to my agent, but am making a start with the second because I’m excited by the subject matter, and it ties in with the memoir I’ve been planning for a while. Even as someone who actually loves editing, this type of editing stage Is peculiarly thorny. My agent is working on overseas representation too, which adds more agents into the mix... and we haven’t got to the publishers yet! I also have two friends who basically gave up at this stage, and left their first drafts with agents, too stuck to redraft.
This part of the process isn’t really discussed enough. I was prepared for it to happen, having been a professional writer for a long time, but this is my first foray into fiction, and at times it’s felt harder than anything I’ve done previously. I think mainly because I’ve already done so much work! I’ve really had to push myself forward, but every time I do, I can feel
the novel evolving in ways I hadn’t originally anticipated.
Absolutely here for this. I'm working on my second book while my first is on submission, It's quite a departure in form and genre, which is both freeing and scary. As I leap into my invented world I feel far less certain of my craft, so I've committed to a week-long tutored fiction course at Moniack Mhor in the north of Scotland at the end of this year. Hoping I'll have the guts of a first draft by then...
This is perfect timing for me. I’ve just sent the third draft of my first novel to my agent, but am making a start with the second because I’m excited by the subject matter, and it ties in with the memoir I’ve been planning for a while. Even as someone who actually loves editing, this type of editing stage Is peculiarly thorny. My agent is working on overseas representation too, which adds more agents into the mix... and we haven’t got to the publishers yet! I also have two friends who basically gave up at this stage, and left their first drafts with agents, too stuck to redraft.
This part of the process isn’t really discussed enough. I was prepared for it to happen, having been a professional writer for a long time, but this is my first foray into fiction, and at times it’s felt harder than anything I’ve done previously. I think mainly because I’ve already done so much work! I’ve really had to push myself forward, but every time I do, I can feel
the novel evolving in ways I hadn’t originally anticipated.
Be truly brilliant to hear from other writers. 🙏🏽