Hi Melissa,
Sorry, but I don't have the time to evaluate your novel properly.
But I do commend you on your effort. It's a great achievement to write a book. As you know, it takes a great deal of dedication and commitment over several weeks or months. But I can assure you that, once completed, it will bring you much satisfaction.
As a consolation, here's some advice from a fellow novelist:
1. My advice would be to join one of the many online writing circles which offer honest criticism. I don't have the URLs off-hand, but I know they exist. Just check with one of the search engines.
2. It's important for you to write, not think, for now. By that I mean, it's all too easy with any long work to get bogged down and think it's beyond you or find any number of excuses for putting off doing the work.
3. Depending on your work / life commitments, I would suggest establishing a regular routine every day. Stephen King in his latest book 'On Writing' shows you how to write 10 pages a day or 2000 words a day, simply by starting at a predetermined time each day and just going for it. It's simple but it works. I adopted a similar approach when I wrote a couple of books last year.
4. You may like to begin at 500 words and, once you continue to reach that target in a short amount of time, you can raise the bar to 1000, 2000 or more words a day. Before you know it, you won't be thinking about how you can write the book, you'll just be doing it ~ and every time you sit down at the keyboard, your mind will be rearing to go.
5. Set a deadline. As an old journalist, I am used to self-inflicted deadlines. It's an easy way to keep you on target. You may like to give yourself three months or six months, depending on your workload, to finish the first draft, and then another month or whatever to edit and complete the book. Whatever time you set, stick to the deadline by writing every day and meeting your word target (or making it up at the end of each week). The point is to take the act of writing your novel seriously ~ and not let yourself off the hook because you're not in the mood.
6. Depending on your writing style, it may be better to write first and edit later. Some writers like to edit as they write; some like to write in the morning and edit that work in the afternoon or evening. But, maybe because you are new to the task, it's best to write the first draft and then worry about filling in the holes later.
7. And my final advice is to read. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on, even if it's not relevant to your work. This is the best training any writer can undertake in addition to the physical act of writing.
To start you off . . . You may like to read an article I wrote recently about writing an ebook. Much of what I have to say is applicable to you.
http://www.enterprisingwriter.com/article1005.html
And also, you may wish to subscribe to my free weekly ezine for writers. I'm sure it will have some information, not to mention, inspiration in it for you.
http://www.meanwellstore.com
All the best with your book, Melissa.
regards
Michael
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Michael Meanwell
michael@meanwellstore.com
Author of the e-books
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