Lots of questions...kinda long post.

Sounds like you have a leg and a half up on the whole thing already!

Probably the best thing you could do right now is take a break from editing. Let the manuscript rest in a dark place for a month and let your mind rest. Hang around AW, write some short stuff or bits of a sequel if you need to keep the fingers moving. When you go back to the novel, your eyes will be freshened and you will see without all those knots that overthinking puts in the brain

No one can tell you when to stop editing...that's something you need to learn yourself. We could all edit our stories forever, but after a certain point you need to say, "I can do no more, constructively. Time to cut this loose." Often this is around the time when you make a change one day then change it back a day later.

About the dialogue: I don't know how much dialogue you have compared to how much narrative, so you might try posting in SYW (share your work). But if you are mentally picturing a movie, this is probably limiting your perception of not only sensory details, particularly those other than sight and sound, you should think more carefully about what your POV character is experiencing. Particularly in first person. The great advantage to first person is the intimacy possible with a character's thoughts...why not use it?

Do people like farfetched? There's an audience for ridiculous plots, yeah (see Dan Brown) but they have to be plausible within the world you're creating and true to the characters. (By the way, even if you're working within the world we know, you're writing fiction. It's your world.)

I can't think right now of another story structured like yours, but with what you said earlier about there being mostly dialogue and little narrative...how exactly are you making use of this technique? I would think it'd be most effective when the two POV characters are very, very different and experience events very differently. Think very carefully about this. Is your story really stronger because of this technique? Would it be stronger if perspectives switched chronologically and we didn't have deja vu every twenty pages?

About querying...yea, it's nerve-wracking for most everyone. Just gotta hit send.

the POV switches from the hero to the heroine so its split 50/50.

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They did something similar in an episode of the X-Files called 'Bad Blood'. (I know it's not a book, but I just so happened to watch this episode today.)

I usually start with dialog in my drafts. I think that you can add things like description when you re-write (edit). There are books which have been written that are dialog only. White Dahlia by James Ellroy neo-noir crime fiction is an example. I think the only problem is that it is way too fast. It's like a transcript of a conversation. Since in real life, real people take a log time getting to the point, gloss, lie, fabricate, prevaricate, perambulate, and generally don't get to the point, whatever you write is probably a shadow of what actual speech sounds like.

When you are done is a judgment call. I will have some Beta Readers but I will also probably take it to a workshop to really break down and discuss the whole thing.

I think that going over the same exact scene may be repetitive, but if the changes are so great it might be interesting. Several book and screen things have been done that way. Did you see the Regulators/Desperation? Same characters, same story one written by Stephan King, and one written by his evil twin, Richard Bachman. What about Groundhog day? Something like that.

I personally dislike going into people's heads. Sometimes it is unavoidable.

There's a whole literary tradition of far fetched plots starting with anything written by Jonathan Swift way back at the beginning of fiction.

I notice that I feel like the book will never be "perfect" and I don't know when to stop correcting. It's driving me crazy. Each day I find something new to fix and I just want to be able to KNOW when to stop.

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One of the things I learned was to have a good reason for the change I was making. Like I might go back to Chapter 1 to add foreshadowing that I realized was needed. Bad reasons for making changes? Vague ones, like 'something feels wrong,' but I can't explain why. Making changes for the sake of making changes (at work, we call it changing happy to glad).

Do set the story aside for a month or two so you'll gain new perspective. Sometimes you'll find that the story sounds a lot better than you thought. Do work on another project during that time.

Should I go back in my book and fill it in more so its less "dialogue-ey" or can it survive the way it is?

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If there's too much dialogue (crits will tell you this), then you should add more narrative--but meaningful narrative, not just a description of place. Show us the character's viewpoint, important plot details, mood, setting--use it to add to the story.

Another bad habit of mine is using slightly far-fetched twists/plotlines. Do people like far-fetched?

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Let' see ... Clive Cussler's Sahara is about a conspiracy that Lincoln didn't die at Ford's Theater, but in the Sahara Desert. Lincoln Child's Death Match is about a computer being used in a dating service that believes it's the perfect mate for a man and kills all competition. Laurell K. Hamilton has vampires as legalized citizens.

As long as you make the unbelievable believable within the story, readers will be able to suspend disbelief.

I am also scared like most writers to submit anything to an agent. The whole query letter thing freaks me out...there are so many different combinations to describe a story.

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Agents are nice people, honest. I've met maybe twenty, thirty agents, and most of them are nice people. The worst they will do is send you a form letter rejection. And, unfortunately, the only way to learn is to write the query letter, maybe post it here for critique, and then send it out. The story won't get published if you don't start sending queries.

You may want to volunteer at a writer's conference so you can watch the agents without any worries. I've been running the agent pitch room for the last four years at my regional writer's conference, and I've found it really demystifies the agents. They're not a faceless entity at the other end of a letter; they're a person who likes diet soda and chocolate chip cookies.

Ariaki said:

I experimented with the set up of the story which is unique (to my knowledge anyway) but it could possibly have a downside. I never see a lot of books were you get both the hero and heroine's point of view so the whole book is in the first person and the POV switches from the hero to the heroine so its split 50/50. It's kind of tricky to explain but I will try: For example, lets say in one chapter the heroine will be explaing about a party she went to and what she thought of it etc and then the chapter after that will show how the hero percieved that same party etc.

A lot of the times the dialogue between the two characters are shared in their separate chapters. I tried to add someting different to each chapter so that the reader won't get bored reading about the same event/dialogue but I think it might need a little more work in that department. Has anyone seen this style?

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Hey Ariaki. I have a WIP with the same setup. It's a love story and, with all of the baggage and pre conceived notions both characters bring to the story, I found it important to be inside both of their heads.
Although most of the chapters switch events as they switch POV, there are a couple back to back chapters focusing on the same event.And, in those chapters, the characters do have different perceptions of the same event.
I'm got up to about 60,000 words on that one and even switched it back to a single point of view. (Didn't like it that way , at all)
So, that book is on the backburner at this time, and I think my confusion as to whether I should continue in the 2 POV's style was my reason for shelving it.
I have read books written in this style, but, none come to mind right now. Will get back with you if I think of any.

MC 1 can see the party as festive atmosphere describing the food, decorations, music, etc. recalling previous good times.
MC 2 can see the partygoers as clingy parasites with no life other than what they suck from other people's troubles

HeronW said:

MC 1 can see the party as festive atmosphere describing the food, decorations, music, etc. recalling previous good times.
MC 2 can see the partygoers as clingy parasites with no life other than what they suck from other people's troubles

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Now I know I have a problem... I keep seeing both as 100 word flash-fiction stories that end very, very badly for the partygoers.

(And hey, welcome to the forum - we've all got questions. )

Your first paragraph sounded so much like me, I had to read it twice to make sure I hadn't written it. I'm actually reading throught my WIP for the fifth time.
I guess, for me, when I can read it through without stumbling on something that bothers me, I'm satisfied. (That hasn't happened yet though; a page or so, maybe, but, inevitably I snag on something. Or sometimes I'll hear a complaint about the overuse of a particular word and search through the book to see how many times I've used it.)
As far as your duel POV, I once read a book that was written in three parts, each part from a different POV. I loved it; each POV brought something new to the situation I'd already read about from the previous POV.

Good luck!

Ariaki said:

I just introduced myself on the newbie thread today and have a lot of questions

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Welcome.

I notice that I feel like the
book will never be "perfect" and I don't know when to stop correcting. It's driving me crazy. Each day I find something new to fix and I just want to be able to KNOW when to stop.

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Nothing is ever "perfect" and if you tweak the thing to death you'll never see it published. When to stop? When you find yourself tweaking words or rearranging sentences then back, changing punctuation... basically when you find yourself fixing "little" things over and over again, it's time to give it a rest. It's called "nitpicking" at this point.

Overall I feel like my book is fairly complete but what bothers me is that I have fallen into the bad habit of being a dialogue addict! I make my characters talk way too much instead of writing descriptions, their thoughts/actions.My book is not a screenplay but I feel like it's set up more like a movie, probably since I imagine a little movie in my mind when I write. Should I go back in my book and fill it in more so its less "dialogue-ey" or can it survive the way it is?

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If it's well-written what's the problem? That's the only question you need to ask. No Country for Old Men, for example, is mostly dialogue.

Another bad habit of mine is using slightly far-fetched twists/plotlines. Do people like far-fetched?

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It depends on the genre. Implausible is always risky, but fans of thrillers, for example, tend to have a higher tolerance for far-fetched. Parachuting with just a plastic tarp? No problem if you're Robert Langdon.

Iyou get both the hero and heroine's point of view so the whole book is in the first person and the POV switches from the hero to the heroine so its split 50/50.

Plenty of books are written that way. Time Traveler's Wife, for example.

I am also scared like most writers to submit anything to an agent. The whole query letter thing freaks me out...there are so many different combinations to describe a story. I don't even know what agents I want to send queries to yet. I'm not even 100% of my genre besides it being fiction. I think it may be women's literature/chick-lit because it's "PG" rated.

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Do some research on the different genres. "PG" doesn't mean much unless you're writing for a particular audience (YA or children). Thing about the themes, the plot, the characters, etc. There are distinctive differences between women's fiction and chick-lit.

Ariaki said:

I was worried about agents because I get the impression that they are on a power trip and want to crush people more than help them. I'm glad to hear that they can be nice too

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Let me summarize what an agent is: A small business owner. Like the lawyer in the one man shop who prepares your will or the woman who owns a restaurant in a hole in the wall building. With loyal clients (writers), they don't stay in business.

The tough part a lot of people have trouble with is that an agents--and publishers--are doing a form of sales. There are writers who think that because they made the effort to write a book, they're owed publication. On the other hand, the agents are looking for a book they think they can sell to a publisher, and the publisher is looking for a book they think will sell to readers.

Miss Snark, an anonymous agent who had a blog for a while, did a contest where she critted the first page of something like 700 unpublished novels her blog readers sent to her. It was an eye opening experience because we got to see what the agents receive on a daily basis. There were a few gems, but most of it was bad. Some of it was bad writing, riddled with mistakes, and others had good writing but couldn't tell a story. The agents often come across as bad guys because they don't accept everything that comes across their desk.

It's a tough business, and because of that, you really have to love writing so that while you're getting rejections (and you probably will), you're always working on the next book.

Ariaki said:

I was worried about agents because I get the impression that they are on a power trip and want to crush people more than help them. I'm glad to hear that they can be nice too

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That's not an agent's job -- whether to crush or help writers. They couldn't care less. Their job is to find that gem of a manuscript and sell it. They want to make money, and they can only make money if they have a client who has something worthwhile to sell, and they sell it. That's what an agent is interested. They don't crush you (they'd just say "thanks but no thanks") or help you (they have no time until you're their client already).

So focus on your writing and make it the best you can. But when you start tweaking it to death, it's time to take a break or send it out.

I think you can revise a work forever and still find things wrong with it. Nothing's ever going to be perfect, just have less discernable mistakes.

Ariaki said:

It's apparent that a lot of people use Beta readers but I've always been kind of paranoid to show my work. I don't think my book is the most amazing thing ever or that people will steal it but somehow I feel uneasy? Maybe I'm being silly.

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No, people won't steal your MSS. They're having enough trouble trying to sell their own.

What you're probably afraid of is what everyone else is afraid of before they jump into the beta pool -- the water's going to be too cold, the chlorine will burn out my eyes, there might be sharks!

Far better to have a friendly and knowledgable beta reader look at your MS and find flaws than to let an agent do it. The agent will do his job, which is to say, "No, thanks" to unripened work. The good beta reader will open your eyes to things you've missed in your myopic intimacy with the work; the really good one will even make suggestions on how to put that peach-in-the-making into the sun, so that it gets sweet enough and juicy enough to tempt the jaded palate of the agents and editors.

Mmmm, peaches...

Rough reviews are also good for you, by the way, as are rejections. An untried, tender sensibility won't last long in the publishing battle. Think Spartan! Get into the fight and build up some scar tissue!

And, as always, welcome, and have a cookie.

Ariaki, I think you're worrying too much or trying to give yourself reasons to not do this thing called "getting the book published." It's a fear of failure or success. Stop worrying and just do it.