Writers feel stuck expanding novel drafts

“Hey guys for some context I’ve been writing a novel for about four months now (it’s is over 140k words long now) it is a dark flintlock fantasy inspired by the Vietnam war and the Cold War (kind of imagine the Cold War but in a dark fantasy setting in a post cataclysmic dragon ending war) and I wrote a very good chapter some spoilers but it’s the funeral of one of the main characters best friends who died during the war of the main story. It works a lot thematically with mortality the difference”

“Hey, just finished my novel. Huge weight off my shoulders, but now I'm kind of stuck!! What did you do after finishing your first draft? Like, revision roadmaps?Well, feeling a little lost here... submitted by /u/Tea-3644 [link] [comments]”

“How many times do we need to go back to what we've written to know it's ready? I mean, we all know the first draft is not the good one, but there's a limit? I mean, because, at least for me, I fight constantly with the lack of confidence and always thinking is the worst story ever, so I don't want to be changing and re writing something infinitely. submitted by /u/Certain-Search-2101 [link] [comments]”

“If I’m going to rewrite it anyways, and the point of a first draft is to flesh out the ideas and character dynamics, should I just not be bothered with prose and stuff. Like instead of spelling out the internal monologue I just write ‘person is overthinking’. submitted by /u/isekaimetofarfaraway [link] [comments]”

“I’m a young writer who struggles with low word counts. Currently I have a novel/novella that’s at 41,000 words. I‘m aiming to get it published, but unless I want to market it as a novella I have to get it to 50000 words. Any tips to increase word count without it sounding overly descriptive or pointless. So far I’ve mainly heard the best thing to do is add some setbacks for your characters, which I think is where I go wrong. So yeah, any tips? submitted by /u/Automatic-Detail-553 [li”

“I have about 46k words. I was originally aiming for a young adult style audience. But I am worried I am already pushing it with my main characters relationship. She does end up pregnant and have a baby by the end. There’s also death and other more adult things throughout. Do I go back and increase the level of detail? Do I just go for it and intertwine smut into my fantasy novel? A central theme of the book is the main character consciousness intertwining with her love interest since she is psyc”

“I've written 33k words so far from beginning to end of the novel. Still lots of scenes I've left that need filling in. I'm just having such a hard time with the structure. I tried to make it fit the save the cat method and some other models but I think it's just a bit complicated at the moment? It's an action adventure romance with assassins so there's some missions that they go on, but also I have a whole idea for the main character's backstory which involves an enti”

“I'm 32k words into my first draft (aiming for 70-80k), and I've gotten further than ever before, mainly by letting myself just forge forward and forget my ego. The freedom of letting go of perfectionism has been amazing. But now the draft is a mess. Characters disappear after one appearance. Plot points arrive too early or too late. Timelines are inconsistent. I keep thinking "did I already explain this three chapters ago?" I'm drowning in details and losing the forest. I k”

“This is the number of pages I have in one of my novels. I keep telling myself that I will make my story as long as it needs to be, but I know that readers have differing attention spans. I have a plan to give the novel length some direction, but what is your preferred length for the novels you read? submitted by /u/BeneathCertainty [link] [comments]”

“First time writer. I had written the first draft and it was about 50k words. I left it for 6 months and came back to edit it. Now i feel like I need to make major changes because none of it seems to be coherent. I could see that the existing version needs atleast 50% rework. What do i do? Go ahead and redo the 50% of the book or do surface level changes and publish the version? Note- I am self publishing via a local publishing house. submitted by /u/SuryaYlp [link] [comments]”

“I just finished rereading the first draft of my YA fantasy novel, around 100,000 words. I have absolutely no background in writing or creative writing, so I’m basically figuring all of this out as I go. I should probably also mention that English isn’t my first language, so that alone already adds another layer of difficulty to the whole process. When I finished the draft, I decided to put some distance between it and me for a while. I wasn’t sure if that was the “right” thing to do, but I felt”

“So I have finished my first full manuscript in May. Now I’m looking at it again and realized the main conflict starts at page 80. I realized it needs to come sooner, but i’m conflicted on how. basically someone was resurrected in the book on chapter 6 (i was told in a writing group when it was on chapter 3 to push it back so i did) but now i feel like the war can’t happen right after. I feel like the characters need to live and breathe first. I have some ideas to cut, but looking at it i feel li”

“So I have about 15k words of fanfiction which I'm going to translate to my native Finnish and also expand it to novel length. Any advice on how I could make it longer? The fics are about two traumatized people struggling to learn to love each other. I know I can't stretch out the push-and-pull dynamic into a novel-length piece without readers getting bored. submitted by /u/kaamosteoria1 [link] [comments]”

“The title says itself. Ive fully completed prologue and first two chapters, published them and get some attention. But starting with chapter 3 up to 26 thats basically impossible to turn them from draft to release version. Moreover, I cannot finish the ending - those 27-30 chapters look impossible to even create a draft for them. Yeah, I see the finish point - the final chapter. Still - no ideas how to cross the way to it. Have someone else experienced that? May you give me a little advice? &#32”

“Hello! I am currently halfway through my first novel so it’s a very rough draft obviously. I am looking for a book that I can read before my second draft that would help improve structure and include showing more than telling once I have the base story all the way down. Does anybody have recommendations on a good book for this? I also would be open to a workbook where I can do exercises as I have been out of college for awhile and definitely need to brush up on my writing skills! If it helps, my”

“Working on a first draft for a fantasy project. I’m at barely the halfway point and I’m already double what I thought my initial word count would be. I guess it’s better to have too much content than not enough. What do I do? Spit it into two books? Start cutting subplots?? submitted by /u/AcroVoid [link] [comments]”

“So I’ve been working on the second draft of my first novel that I’ve dedicated quite a lot of time to and I’ve noticed that for whatever reason when I get a good flow going, whether it be narration or dialogue, there’ll be certain sections where I default to a second person perspective instead of sticking to third person perspective which the novel is in. (For example, “he opens the door or she swings the sword, instead of he opened the door or she swung the sword”) I know that it’s general prac”

“I recently completed my sci fi novel of about 390 pages. Still reviewing by myself. Now, I have gone through several articles which speak about necessity of getting it edited in 2 phases: 1. Substantive/developemental editing 2. Proof/copy editing How do I go about getting in touch with such persons who do this kind of editing. How much should I expect it to cost me? Most importantly, what is the way to get my original safely patented in my name? submitted by /u/Virtual_ink_kuku [lin”

“I'm a new writer trying to finish my first novel. Medieval romantic fantasy. I'm ~120K into my first draft and still struggling towards my planned mid-point twist. I am aware that I have an overwriting problem but I'm concerned that even after I edit things down this is going to be a very long manuscript. I already knew that this was going to be book 1 of a multi-book fantasy series (at least 2 books) but now I'm looking at the remaining story beats and wondering if I should be c”

“On my second draft of a dark fantasy novel, ~115, 000 words just for reference. I wrote my first draft, let it sit and fester for a while, made a list of things I knew I wanted to change, and that is where I’m currently at. The problem I’m having is that I feel like most of the info I have is important (useful and propels the story and plot forward) but is in the wrong order in some way. I’m concerned some information is coming out either too early or too late. I understand the progression of th”

“For context, I wrote this in about an hour, so am aware that I haven't gone over and over the idea like I usually do, but am a little unsure of what could be done to flesh it out a bit more in this moment without feeling like I'm doing too much? Any thoughts and opinions welcome, thanks submitted by /u/Suspicious-Egg6398 [link] [comments]”

“I have been writing a book for the last 2/3 of a year for now. I have 60k+ words in it. When I told my (now ex) gf about the story she said that it sounds like just the story from two other books (I can't remember their names) put together. That was not my intent and I have never even read them. I like what I have made, as far as first drafts go. I am sure I'll revise it a bit as is always the case. I hear publishing is a night mare but I'd like people to read it somehow and like it.”

“I've had an idea for a novel for a while (i still haven't come up with the ending yet), but I haven't really been working on it. I worked on it before, hitting 10k words, before realizing that my main character was bland. I have been working on the world for months straight without fatigue, but I am trying to keep myself from continuing to write with an unfinished main character. The rest of the main cast is fully developed with backstories, goals, flaws, and arcs, but the MC has non”

“I’m currently writing a YA romantasy novel, and I’m about halfway through it. I’ve been really enjoying working on it and definitely want to finish it. BUT… I just got this amazing idea for a dystopian novel, and now I really, really want to start writing it. 😭 I’m trying to decide whether I should just write the idea down and save it for later, or actually start working on it alongside my current novel. Do you guys ever write more than one novel at the same time? If you do, does it he”

“I've been working on my first novel, Beloved Dawn , and for months I've been convinced I still had another 30-ish chapters to go. The problem was... it was getting LONG. I was already over 80k words, and I kept worrying that I was going to have to rush through the next part of my protagonist's childhood just to keep the book from becoming enormous. And that would have been so sad... because the next part was so important to my girl. Then today I was getting ready for work, going over”

“Took some time to try out different writing processes as a plantser, searching for a balance between producing as clean of a draft as possible while not taking too long to draft in the first place. What I can say is outlining backwards on a chapter/scene level but not across a novel works surprisingly well for me. I’ve never been so locked in writing through a chase scene straight out of a jason bourne movie. submitted by /u/MagicalSausage [link] [comments]”

“I'm working on a trilogy and I have the plot for all three books outlined. But there are spaces where I only really have vauge descriptions of what happens. I have the arcs for the characters planned out I'm just unsure of the plot. I should probably mention that I've never been much of a planner I just take an arc and roll with it lol. So do I plan more in depth, or do I write the first draft and make changes to the other outlines as a result? submitted by /u/Dry_Enginee”

“i have been working and reworking a story idea for over two years now and i just can’t make it click. i finished the first draft last summer and was really excited about it, but now that im 55k words into draft 2, i’m seeing every flat character, wishy washy motivation, disconnected plot point, etc. it feels like im asking too much of the story and it doesn’t have focus. another issue is that it’s low-concept, so i don’t have a clear logline i can hold onto and go back to when i get lost in the”

“I have been writing a novel for about 2 years now. I have a few chapters but I dont want to keep putting hours into it if its not as good as I hoped it would be. I keep rewriting and editing past chapters before I can finish the one I am currently writing. Should I just finish the book and then edit even if the edits make me need to rewrite big chunks of the book? submitted by /u/Raymond_Lucent [link] [comments]”

“Im currently writing my first actual novel, though I have written fanfiction before. Like, a lot. For context, when I started writing in 2012 my chapters were 500-2000 words long. And my writing style was abysmal to be frank. Then in 2020 I took a bunch of writing classes online and fixed my writing style. The fanfiction I published after that is currently over 600k words and only halfway done. Now, realistically I know there is no damn way someone is gonna ever read a book at 600k words. I dont”

“I am currently 34k words deep into my current novel, which is one of my largest ideas. As much as I am enjoying the process, I keep thinking of the scope of the world I am writing in and I'm thinking of switching ideas as I have a different idea that I like that is just 1 novel, and is less complex with only 1 main perspective, as well as another one which is at most 3 and 1 main perspective. What would you guys advise I do? Should I finish this novel before moving on or start on that novel?”

“So first off I’m dyslexic so this is still a draft. Im looking for feedback on the story , does it hook you would you read on? I’ve finished a 3rd draft (211 pages) but I’m looking to see if this first chunk would make you read on. submitted by /u/FarrinGalharad76 [link] [comments]”

“The title pretty much sums it up. Im working on a story and even though i have a grasp on the storylike and plot twists i want it to have, everything is very sketchy as of now, except the ending. I have planned it all out, written most of the dialogue and imagined the scenes, concluded the plot (without even having though of how it would start) and made sure to give a satisfying end to all the main characters in this last part. Im really happy about it and i think its a great way to end it, but”

“Wondering if I should try and fix the timelines now before I go any further. Or would you just try and get to the end of the first draft and shuffle it around later. First time novel writer so don't quite know what would be the smart option. submitted by /u/Left_Write_ [link] [comments]”

“Okay so, I’ve been writing this one novel (now game) for upwards of 7 years now. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I want to do something else, something new. Today I was at a friend’s birthday party, we go to different school and I was super happy to see her again. At this party I met one of her friends I had met maybe once… 4-5 years ago, when I was in 7th grade. Seeing her again made my heart race, and the way we spent the whole party talking and playing with each other got me to this idea:”

“Hello, this is my first draft of chapter 1. The novel I'm writing is situated on a fictional continent. It follows the character Roun as he travels across the continent and faces several different situations. I wanted feedback on a few things, general critique of the chapter, any advice on how I can make it better, does it sound or feel interesting, would you read further if you read this chapter, is the pacing good, are the dialogues good, someone mentioned that I was switching POVs too muc”

“Hello everyone, I'm a writer with a bad case of writer's block. I used to write things easily and now it is getting hard, and I've been worrying that I don't have this in me. I have a story I want to write, but it's not really 'flowing' out of me. And I think this is because I while I have a broad idea for how I want the story to go, a lot of the plot I'm not really sure of how we get from point A to B. And I also haven't really figured out who my main charact”

“hi everyone! earlier today i was hit by some random inspiration and wrote a little thing, which i would love to flesh out into a full short story (ideally 2k-ish words because that's usually my style), but it seems my inspiration flash dissipated and now i don't know how i could expand on the concept. any ideas or advice would be awesome, thanks! full piece (atm) below :) The World’s Largest Parking Lot After the apocalypse, the last remnant of humanity will be the World’s Largest Parkin”

“In a previous post, I mentioned that most of the writers here have works exceeding 100k words. Therefore, I wanted you to answer me honestly. First, how do you write? Do you have a specific time and a daily routine, or just write occasionally? And If you already have work or projects that have reached or exceeded 100k, I would like to know how long it took. submitted by /u/mcoroe [link] [comments]”

“I was planning an epic fantasy novel, and it was meant to be one book. It has five parts with titles. Anyway, I just finished the first draft of part one, and (with no descriptions and some of the subplots I want aren't there yet) it's over 150,000 words. Do I cut it down or do I just make each part its own novel? Or do I cut five parts into three and make it a trilogy? Edit to clarify: I was planning a single novel that had five parts. Part one has 150,000 words. Do I cut it down or do”

“Many say that it is good to first write the whole story as it comes to us and then make changes.But I am confused. I am writing my novel, I have written almost a quarter of the story but I have important changes to make. I am going to change the point of view and I will replace many important scenes with others that have great weight. I have started making a plan in my mind for the first chapters that I will change and I have written a little bit of the first chapter. But I read this advice on R”

“So I finished my first draft on 13th August this year And just completed draft 2 today. Mostly fixing spelling and grammatical errors. I also expanded on the first 4 earlier chapters. The latter ones I'm quite happy with beyond a word change or grammar correcting. What should I be focussing on for draft 3? I assume copyright page and finalising format. But what else is there I may have missed? submitted by /u/South-Knee-9601 [link] [comments]”

“When I write and finish a draft and sit to edit I find nothing to cut out. Just refinements are left. Is it because I don't develop the world or story enough so that there's nothing left except the core. This happens also while I write screenplays. I've no scenes left to cut. When I start a project I have a rough page count (screenplay). Like 150 or 120 and I end up on 90-110. submitted by /u/Tricky-Menu-5183 [link] [comments]”

“I finished my Stream of consciousness rough draft version of the fantasy novel I’m working on. I originally started this as a bedtime story for my son and somehow it spiraled into a full story. I’m beginning the re-write and I would just love some feedback on my first few paragraphs. Obviously, there’s not much to go off of. I’m just curious if it sounds or feels like a normal book. If it pulls your interest or intrigues you. Without further ado. Please be gentle. The strike came down fast and r”

“Is it normal for the second and third drafts to only take a week or two to complete? For reference the first draft was 39,552 words In 4 days of draft 2 I am on chapter 9 of 15 and at 42k words. submitted by /u/South-Knee-9601 [link] [comments]”

“So I have a manuscript that's around 60k words that I wrote a few years back. I want to get it done, but developments in the ideas for the narrative have happened since then and it's gone in a different direction. It's not a complete change to the original, but enough that when I read the work back it's riddled with plot holes and things that no longer make sense. Would you... Start from scratch keeping some of the core elements but rewriting large swathes of it. Or Just edit the”

“I searched before posting and found the recent “Overwriting” thread where someone was expecting their first draft to hit around 240 pages. The general advice there seemed to be: finish the draft first, then cut/restructure once you can see the whole thing. My situation is a little more extreme, so I’m curious whether that advice still applies. I’m a hobbyist screenwriter and I’ve been writing scenes for this story on and off for roughly the past year. I only recently started assembling everythin”

“I ended up cutting from 96k to 91k. This is an action-oriented book. Should I just put it away for a bit before other steps? I was initially aiming for at least 100k words. What other things could I look into in the meantime? Thanks for all the suggestions. submitted by /u/Time2kill [link] [comments]”

“i am predicting my novel will now have 20k+ words from the script, is it impressive for a beginner writer? i wrote the script in 3 weeks, now i just need to type the finished result submitted by /u/kenjiehere [link] [comments]”

“Helloo, Im currently 70k words into my first draft. I've really enjoyed creating this world that I've built and the characters in it etc. I feel I have a good story and hope to wrap up around 85k words before adding a few chapters/updating descriptions in revision with the ultimate goal of nearing 100k as close as possible. I plan on querying for traditional publishing (if revision goes well) and would love to make my novel a cohesive story but with the potential for more (think Mistborn”

“Im writing a novel, I feel like I’ve written everything I wanted to write before 50% of the book, however I’m only 15,800 words in, so I’m thinking the only thing I can do is add like 50 side quests but honestly I think this WILL ruin the story, what do I do? Do I just make the first draft really short and make it longer or is that dumb since then I’ll have to add more side quests or a bunch of unnecessary filler words anyway, i honestly don’t know how to fix this. submitted by /u/Ja”