Time to move on from your WIP

I’ve been working on a new novel and have actually made some progress on it. It’s always fun to start something fresh and see some real progress. But this post isn’t about the new novel. It’s about my second novel. The unpublished second novel that may never see the other end of a query letter.

I pulled it out last month and took a look at it, hoping to see enough potential there to pitch at a conference I was attending.

Holy Fudgesicles was published three years ago this month. Three years is a long time between books and I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that if I don’t kick it into high gear, I’ll be saying the same thing, only it’ll be four years. Or five. Or eighty. (Yes I plan to live to be 120.)

I decided it was time to make a decision and stick with it, no matter what. I either take that unpublished novel and clean up and start querying it, or I set some real goals and get a new one written.

So what I did was spend an hour or so reading over some of the best parts, some of the worst parts, and some of the random parts. And then I made some pros and cons to help decide.

I’ll share a few of them, just in case you’re in the same situation of having a first draft and wondering whether or not to pursue it:

Pros

Story

It IS a good story. The plot wraps up nicely and the pacing is just about right.

Characters

There’s a large cast of characters and each has their own arc, and to the end, everything comes together nicely.

Fun, quick read

I think the character are mostly likeable, and the novel is a really quick read. The humor is never over the top or out of place, and the drama isn’t too melodramatic.

Cons

Characters

That big cast of characters may also hurt the story. It’s not a long novel, so even if I think the characters have nice story arcs, there isn’t enough time spent developing and differentiating the characters.

Diversity

From a marketing standpoint, this is important. Publishers want to sell to as broad of an audience as possible. And if I look at things objectively, there is not a lot of diversity in this novel. Like a lot of my fiction, the setting is small town Nebraska, so it may not resonate with everyone.

Length

I mentioned that the novel may be too short to properly develop the characters. Same thing goes for the setting, descriptions, and world-building. In all honesty, it should probably be around 30,000 words longer.

Theme

I talked about how the lack of diversity may hurt marketing. The basic premise of the book may also hinder it. This novel has a pretty common theme (modern day teens discover a hidden fantasy world and travel back and forth between the two). I think this has been done so many times that it would be a tough sell.

Underdeveloped villain

This is probably the largest problem with this novel; and the one that would take the most work to fix. (Even more than adding 30,000 words.) The main antagonist just kind of wanders the world causing problems. No real motive, or clear background has been developed.

Finally…

So in closing, the cons greatly outnumber the pros, and even though this novel could be repaired at some point, I’ve decided to put it on hold indefinitely and dedicate all time allocated to writing fiction on the new novel. It’s going well and is completely different in plot and tone from the other novel, but that’s part of what makes writing fun. Trying new things, figuring out what works and what doesn’t, and making the magic happen.

I hope seeing some of the problems I ran into with my novel can help you evaluate your, and if you’ve got any pros & cons of your own to share, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page.