For those who don’t know, I spent four years at uni working on two creative writing degrees. These degrees are part of the reason I feel so comfortable and capable when talking about books and writing. I learnt how to look at writing objectively, what to say to bring tone and tension into the setting, how dialogue should flow for each interaction, and how to nail down my place and space description thanks to my incredible lecturer turned supervisor for my master’s degree. During my master’s degree, I had the chance to write my first full-length YA fantasy as my thesis. My manuscript has undergone many edits and rewrites since finishing my master’s, shifting the overall demographic and purpose of the work. It has lain dormant for a year as life took precedence, but it is time to brush off the cobwebs and give this manuscript what I hope will be its final major rewrite.

Let me start by explaining the current situation with my manuscript. None of the finer details, but an overview of what I’m working with will help you understand the struggles I’ve faced wrangling it into something impressive. It started as a YA Fantasy written in three first-person perspectives. With three protagonists in mind, I thought it best to give them equal opportunity to tell their own stories. I chose first-person perspective because I wanted the reader to be confronted with each character’s pain, trauma and struggles. Writing this novel for examination purposes shifted the direction of many elements as I needed to justify writing decisions, but now that I’m writing for publication and commercial purposes my work needs to swing in the other direction.

Before tucking it away, I noted the changes I wanted to make because I was torn over how to rewrite it. I have two major changes that need to be made to make this manuscript work. The first one is switching from first-person to third-person. This is a stylistic choice I favour as I originally wrote in third-person but switched after my mentor suggested first-person would be more effective for the thesis (again, examination-related writing instead of commercial). There are many third-person fantasy stories, namely Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter Chronicles which I highly regard and the Six of Crows duology which is another fan favourite. This, as you can imagine, requires a full rewrite.

The other change is a demographic change. There are themes, fantasy elements, tropes and characters within my fantasy that align very closely with current YA and NA fantasy novels. This isn’t a bad thing as readers like these books and may read my novel should it ever get published. What it does mean is a huge number of books with these same elements are getting published following the release of powerhouses such as Fourth Wing, When the Moon Hatched, The Priory of the Orange Tree, and so many others. There is, from what I can see, an over-saturation in the YA and NA Fantasy market and I feel that my novel would slip through the cracks and be forgotten. So I thought hey, why not mature this up, get more layers and morally grey decisions in there, maybe a few darker elements and more gruesome fight scenes, and make this into an adult fantasy that I’ll enjoy. I do like adult fantasy for its multi-layered, complex narratives and the grey area that is so often toed, crossed into and sometimes even sauntered right through. If I want my work to hold its own for longer – and this is purely theoretical by the way, I have no idea how long of a shelf life it would have regardless – then I should strengthen it and make it into a story that appeals to adult readers who can enjoy it just as much as the YA and NA readers who pick it up after seeing the similarities to their fantasy faves.

Have I lost you yet?

Don’t worry, I’ll sum it up for you. I need to rewrite this for two main reasons – I need to switch the perspective and I want to make the story more mature, bringing in more layers and overall washing the whole thing in a few shades of grey. In doing this rewrite, I should also tackle my other problem which is the word count. I’m sitting at 117k and it is not easy trying to get people to look at your manuscript when you’re hitting over the maximum word count for submission.

IIt may surprise you all, but I can see myself getting this done in only a few months. I like reading my work, and I enjoy writing it. To this day, I’m still heavily interested in the fantasy world I’ve created, which is amazing because it means I have a drive to bring it to life. I wouldn’t be writing this post explaining my plans if I didn’t find it a worthy story. The challenge comes with reminding myself that I didn’t waste four years of my life and accrue a student loan for nothing.

There are other stories and writing projects that I’ve planned, outlined and started over the years, but this is my baby, and I want this novel – and the trilogy that comes from it – to be my first published work. There’s something about it that I can’t ignore, that I don’t want to put aside, and I will work day and night to give it a chance to thrive.