The Long Draft: Do You Have One Manuscript, or Two?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

I recently finished a first draft of a young adult fantasy novel. This book has a bit of history for me, so it was a relief and gave me a sense of accomplishment to get it done.

However…

It’s almost twice as long as my first drafts typically are—118,000 words instead of 60,000 words. While YA can certainly run higher than 60K words, I have a lot of trimming in my future. Probably in the 30-40K word range.

But as I was discussing the book with a writer pal, she joked about how my draft was two of her books. Which naturally led us to wonder…did I have two books?

It’s not an easy question. Just because I have the words for it, doesn’t mean I have the story for it. Stories need the right structure and flow to work well, so simply chopping the manuscript in two isn’t the solution. It could very likely create a book that just stops, but doesn’t end, and another that feels as if you picked it up mid-story.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com