Thread: Should I break my story into pieces

So, I've been wrestling with this for a while and I figured I'd turn to you all for help if you'd be so kind. I'm working on a young adult novel that (somehow) has turned out to be a lot longer than I originally planned for it. The way I'm running now, the book could be well over 100,000 words and, if that's the case, I'm afraid that it might be overlooked by publishers as too daunting for a premier novel. (Especially in the YA realm) I've been thinking about splitting it into two sections, with the first section becoming the first book and so on. The problem with that is, I honestly think the story is better as a whole and don't feel as strongly about the section I have if it were to be split. (I just think. as a complete work, it has a nice bookend quaility to it) So, that my issue. Do I split it up in order to make it more managable for publishers or keep it intact and chance it ? Any help would be really fabulous. Thank You

Young adult tends to run somewhere between fifty and eighty thousand words, if I remember correctly. If there's a place where you can feasibly split the novel in two, I would advise you to do that. Then again, there's always exceptions to the rule. I believe the first Harry Potter novel had close to 80,000 words. Her subsequent ones approached 250,000.

First, I'd advise you to finish it. Even if you're going to split it in two, you still need to get to the end. Then, and if it's something like 170,000 words, you can make your decision.

write the story, then you slot this worry in along with editing.

you are talking out of tense

Sync

I would finish up, then worry about it. Once you make it to the editing process, seriously consider all parts and if there are fluffy parts you could do with out, that could help.

I agree with all of the above who say 'finish it first, then worry about this'. It may also be worth remembering that Tolkein wrote The Lord of the Rings as one volume, and his publisher asked him to split it. Maybe it would be worth taking more professional advice once you're done, or even submit it with a query letter which explains you might be willing to split it if the publisher feels that would work better? Maybe write it with "Part One" and "Part Two" intending to publish the two in one volume, so it could easily be split, without you feeling as if you've written two separate books, if that idea bothers you?

Disclaimer: Not a professional, never been published; just tossing ideas out there in the hope it might help.

Thanks for the advice. I think I will just concentrate on finishing the story (as even questioning whether or not I should break it has caused me to question large portions of it) I think I'll give it another look when finished.

Write the story and let a publisher decide whether it needs to be split into two.

It may happen that you finish up with a 120,000 word first draft, and then if it gets picked up by a publisher, you may meet with an editor who gets you to tighten it to the point you lose 30,000, maybe even 40,000 words.

I can only imagine you're making things harder for yourself to pitch a split novel. The publishers I've met over the last year would advise against it, I'm sure. They were all about telling us (my classmates and I) that keeping it simple and marketable is key. Marketing a part one would be SO hard. Especially for a first time novelist. They would only make your second if the first was a hit. And if they never make the second part, then that would annoy a lot of readers, I'm sure.