I'd write a complete different novel and let the seven novel set rest for awhile with the idea of coming back to it when you're closer to hitting the big time. Brandon Sanderson wrote five novels before his 'breakout' novel, Elantris. Each time he finished one, he'd take a good hard look at it, ask if it was salable, and then set them aside as he continued to work out his million words of dreck. You can read about his long road to his first publishing break here.

Nice! I have some important backstory that I've moved all the way out to the third novel of the trilogy. I'm going to use it as the big, overarching character arc reveal for all three novels instead of revealing it way up front in the first novel.

What kind of book are you writing? That may sound like a simple question, or one you don't really need to answer. You're writing your story, creating something unique that's never been seen in this world before! But this question is actually incredibly important. Knowing your genre will help you know exactly what readers want from your story so you can write a fresh and original book with all the elements they'll love. In this article, Sue Weems breaks down how you can become an expert in your genre, plus how to use your genre expertise to take your writing to the next level. (In my study of The Story Grid, this is one of the first things to nail down. When you identify your genre, you also unlock the common Obligatory Scenes and Conventions associated with the genre which can save you a lot of time. While writing my Fantasy / Noir, I learned I needed a crime in the first chapter. I opened with a shocking murder and voila, I was off to the races. https://thewritepractice.com/genre-research/

I get that. For myself, what I don't have is the time to wait for a manuscript to snake its way through a Trad Pub slushpile. When I'm ready to publish, I intend to publish while writing the next thing.

Or you could self-publish and all this becomes moot.

David Farland argues (strongly) that writers should fight to keep our focus even if we begin to become successful. https://mailchi.mp/xmission/david-farlands-writing-tips-dont-get-too-excited

David Farland weighs in. (The last sentence is the kicker.) https://mailchi.mp/xmission/david-farlands-writing-tips-the-one-great-story

You could also have her use contractions in her thoughts but not in her more formal speech. That can't be right. "Surely that is not correct," she said.

If you have an existing series of novels, David Farland suggests taking a step back and see if you have opportunities to write new ones. https://mailchi.mp/xmission/david-farlands-writing-tips-taking-a-look-at-the-big-picture

I know when I'm done when I get to the final scene appropriate to my genre (in my case, the scene where the ultimate question is answered about the thriller global life value arc: life > unconsciousness > death > threat of damnation.) In my case, it's the showdown between the golem P.I. and the evil Archmage.

For those of you talking about moving away from Mailchimp recently... https://www.chrisfoxwrites.com/2019/05/31/migrating-from-mailchimp-to-convertkit/

Scripture says the fields are white and the workers are few. I'm glad to see people trying to take their love of Story to the mainstream. I have a personal suspicion that the way to reach those whose minds are darkened by the god of this world are through redemption stories but whatever works is fine by me. Keep writing, brother.

(I'm going to one of her conferences this fall!)

Our own Katie (KM) Weiland began with yWriter and moved over to Scrivener.

You know how we keep saying 'Don't quit your day job?' The flip side to that coin is '...but keep writing.' https://mailchi.mp/xmission/david-farlands-writing-tiptaking-your-shot-at-success