So for over three years now I've been working at this novel. It's hardly a literary masterpiece- but it's something I've written and is near completion. The problem is, when you're clacking away at MS Word on and off for three years you don't get a very good idea how long your novel is... until I found out from friends doing NaNoWriMo that a short novel is about 50,000 words... yeah... my novel has rather surpassed that. My verbose nature strikes again!
As a new author I don't want to toss some 700 page monstrosity onto the laps of unsuspecting readers. My book is already some unholy gathering of plots upon subplots and character count orgies worthy of Victor Hugo's signature writing style. And for those who may misinterpret the last sentence, I mean to say that Victor Hugo (love the author, but...) was glutton for character creation. I like elaborate tapestries of plot lines in my stories-the convoluted is something I am thoroughly inclined to write.
So after all this time I'm beginning to think I should cleave the novel into two novels- go King Solomon on it (though technically Solomon never actually chopped any babies in two... despite the rampant violence which was characteristic of the Old Testament). The major issue I have is that this book is intended to be part of a series, and it's not till the second book that things will get good--- which would become the third book of the series should my novel commit mitosis. I have a hard time imagining readers will pick up the next book after enduring a rocky first book, let alone give the third book a chance when the first two were less than delightful. The issue is that the next book I'm planning to write builds upon the foundation started in the current book (or books?). Laying foundation is very difficult, but the payoff is vast.
I find that if I work the novel into two separate books that there are some pros and cons.
Cons:
-Lack of a good climatic finish midway through. There is nothing so fascinating midway through the book that I would consider it an amazing finish. Let's face it, even if most of a novel was sub par, if the end of the book was exciting and interesting, you'll remember the book as a good read. Speaking of Victor Hugo...
-Various Story lines: Because the book follows four female leads (though there is a prominent main character), it's hard to find a stopping point that isn't -too- awkward for at least one of the characters
-Things come together in the second half of the book, it's untidy to have a book that essentially follows around four women who seemingly have no connection.
Pros:
-I can avoid the entrance of several characters until book two. I've added way too many characters for any poor reader to keep up. Splitting the novel into two gives a stopping place before some of the characters enter, giving readers a second book to see new faces.
-I can edit the first half quicker than I can edit the entire novel, this would push ahead any pitches to publishers. With my student loans lurking so closely it wouldn't hurt to try to publish something in the near future and earn a few dollars on the side.
Just out of curiosity, how many words is this book, because if I'm calculating your average right, you're around 350,000?
ReplyDeleteIf that's true, you've got closer to 3 novels in that manuscript, or a hell of a lot of material for the cutting room.
http://www.suite101.com/content/standard-genre-novel-length-requirements-a193058 <- Short breakdown of word counts for novels of various genres.
Patrick- I should explain by "700 pages" I didn't mean it's literally clocked out at that... though it could be. It was more the referring to the fact the book is unholy in length thus far.
ReplyDeleteI've developed a bad habit of ignoring certain writing rules. While some rules improve clarity and benefit the writing- others are just deeply rooted conventions which may restrict the flow of words. Words should convey tales in the manner which best does justice to the story- not to the format that is the most proper.
The best way I could describe it is running into an Author at a convention some years ago. I had mentioned that I had fancied web publishing as a possibility- and he had scoffed and asked if I had wanted to get paid and be respected as an author.
Not to sound rude, but the man's book cover left nothing to make me want to read, it featured a buff dwarf holding an ax; fantasy cliche. I'd actually never heard of his book nor had any of my friends. The man may have been published, and maybe even earned some food off of his creation, but no one knew who he was. In contrast I can think of plenty of people who have put forth comics, videos, etc online that are quite well known.
That being said I will definitely try for standard publication first as publishing companies do the promoting for you and there is more of a pay check involved. However, if I feel like my book might be transformed into yet another Tolkein-knock off or wannabe Anne Rice series, I won't be afraid to brave the self-published road. We live in an age of infinite options for the aspiring author.
One of the reasons I pursued an MBA in lieu of getting a degree in English is so I could have a steady job that would allow me the luxury to write for the fancy of it. My ultimate goal is to write something and have people read it and enjoy it. The goal is not to write a literary masterpiece nor to write a cash cow. However, if something I write does get turned into a cash cow... I won't complain :)