Salvageable Chaos?

[Avalon]

With the help of everyone on this board, and particularly Uncle Jim, I'm just about finished the first draft of my first novel -- the sixth I've attempted, but the first for which I'll actually get to The End.

Having no experience with completed first drafts, I'm stymied. The manuscript is chaos. There are too many "main" characters, so I'm not even really sure who the protagonist is. In the last few thousand words, even the map changed -- dramatically. (It's a fantasy novel.) I don't know what the theme is, if there is one (and this is after a draft of approximately 110,000 words). Really, it's some kind of horrific plot soup.

Is this part of the process? Looking at the mess it's become, I don't know that it's salvageable at all, not by me, not at this level of development. Is there a way to tell if the first draft is part of those unsalvageable million words of crap, and should be retired? Or is the trick just to beat it into some kind of (arbitrary) submission--just revise it and send it out anyway?

Just how much chaos can one have in a first draft, and still be able to salvage it and turn it into something good?

[Nateskate]

With the help of everyone on this board, and particularly Uncle Jim, I'm just about finished the first draft of my first novel -- the sixth I've attempted, but the first for which I'll actually get to The End.

Having no experience with completed first drafts, I'm stymied. The manuscript is chaos. There are too many "main" characters, so I'm not even really sure who the protagonist is. In the last few thousand words, even the map changed -- dramatically. (It's a fantasy novel.) I don't know what the theme is, if there is one (and this is after a draft of approximately 110,000 words). Really, it's some kind of horrific plot soup.

Is this part of the process? Looking at the mess it's become, I don't know that it's salvageable at all, not by me, not at this level of development. Is there a way to tell if the first draft is part of those unsalvageable million words of crap, and should be retired? Or is the trick just to beat it into some kind of (arbitrary) submission--just revise it and send it out anyway?

Just how much chaos can one have in a first draft, and still be able to salvage it and turn it into something good?

If you've gotten to the end, give yourself a pat on the back. You need to see this as a victory and a good start. Step two, ask yourself if you have a good story line. If you do then it might be worth the time to edit and revise.

Epic Fantasy seems to lend itself to following multiple people. This in and of itself is not a problem. Aragorn goes this way, Frodo goes that way. In a sense, they were each protagonists. Lord of the Rings follows three story lines for most of the book.

Tolkien thought his book was beyond fixing and when he was done, was convinced few people would ever want to read it. So being down on your story isn't necessarily a sign it is a waste. Then again, he had C.S Lewis in his corner pushing him to finish, and making suggestions.

Every once in a while I think, "What in the world have I done? What have I gotten myself into?" Then when I hit a snag, I begin to think the whole thing is junk. When I hit a smooth point, I'm think I wrote the next great epic fantasy. My thought is that writing Epic Fantasy is akin to self-flagilation. We work hard and every now and then feel like we deserve a whipping for thinking we could ever do such a thing.

Tolkien was like that. He constantly revised and edited and became discouraged. Well, I can't carry the guy's shoes from a writing standpoint, but I can feel his pain.

[sunandshadow]

Don't panic! :D If you have successfully completed a first draft, the first think yo shoul do is take a nap. Then, have a party. Then, take a nap to recover from the party. ;)

When you do sit down to beat it into shape, break it down into small manageable steps - find something that changed partway through the book, and you know you like the second version better, then go through the book and make all occurrances of that particular thing consistent. Repeat until you run out of these. Now you at least have a consistent manuscript to work with, things are looking better already, right?

Now you can either run the whole thing by a fresh beta reader who is a good editor, or you can continue self-editing. It might be a good time to make a plot diagram; and you could mark on the diagram which characters are present during which sections of the plot, which might be helpful if you are trying to eliminate or combine some. Or if there are any particular scenes you have slated to be rewritten, do that. Basically, fix all the obvious easy things before you worry about whether it's salvageable.

[Garpy]

the best piece of advice I can give....is to walk away from it for a couple of months, go read some other book (or two) then come back with fresh eyes and read it like a customer.....I guarantee you'll see all the problems much more clearly. It really is that simple.

[LightShadow]

Celebrate that you finished it, go out to dinner, take a two week break, and then become a reader. Read the manuscript as if it's written by somebody else, red pen it, cut and paste it, eliminate, add, and have fun with it. Then, go over it again. Don't stop until you believe "it's the one" that will get published, and then go get published.

[Sharon Mock]

I agree. Set it aside for a while, then come back to it with fresh eyes. The chances are reasonably good that the draft isn't as bad as you think, and by the time you come back to it you'll already have ideas on how to fix what's wrong with it. And if not....

Speaking as somebody who's abandoned two different projects at the finished rough draft stage, it's not the worst thing in the world. Even if you decide it's not salvagable -- or not worth the effort to salvage -- you've learned how to write over 100,000 words from Chapter 1 to The End. This alone will make it a little easier for you the next time out.

[RumBucuresti]

Listen to your favourite ever song for 2hrs a day, every day for several months. Still like it? Its probably still a great song, just your response has changed to it due to familiarity.

You might have a great story there, just take a break from it.
regards, Rum.