Question about changing order of early chapters for competition submission

[celestebellman]

Hi, I just wondered if anyone can advise on this - submission is for first 10,000 words. My novel has more than one perspective so first 10,000 words would all be from the perspective of one character, and the final chapter which this would involve is possibly not the most exciting.... Chapters from different points of view are interspersed just not this early.
Would it be advisable/ acceptable to change order slightly so that this word count can include another voice, thus be more representative of the novel as a whole? Any thoughts welcome!

Ooh great question. Is it a competition where if you get long/shortlisted you have to submit more? Or literally just 10k words and that’s it?

If the latter I can definitely see the value in doing some swapping, because like you say you could make things more representative of the novel in general, and make sure your submission is the very best example of your writing. If the former I suppose the worry is that you cause ripple effects which are then tricky to iron out.

And I suppose the reeealllly annoying thing to say is that you want your novel opening to the most exciting showcase of the rest of your writing whether you’re entering a competition, going on submission or anything else. So, perhaps worth considering whether it would be worth introducing other voices earlier anyway!

Oh and full disclosure - my novel has a structural conceit which only becomes obvious after prologue + chapter 1. I also entered it in a 10k or similar competition and very deliberately cut some material from chapter 1 so I could make sure the conceit was squeezed in, if that makes sense. When I carried on working on the novel I reinstated the deleted material.

However, since then, editing has dramatically reduced the length of the prologue so the structural conceit happens well within the first 10k words anyway….I guess the lesson is, get to your good stuff quickly!

I agree with the previous poster. The opening of your novel is what everyone will judge it on - most people wouldn't continue reading for 10k words if they got bored with the perspective or came to a chapter that wasn't very interesting. It sounds as though your novel might need a few structural tweaks. You could make changes to the first 10k words in time for this competition and then continue to work on it once you've submitted. Best of luck!

You need to do something about that not very interesting chapter! Could it go elsewhere in the book? The reason they ask for 10000 words is because that's the point where people will give up reading. If the final couple of thousand words are boring they're not going to continue with the book.

I really wouldn't just cut that bit out in order to send them the most interesting bits. If you read any creative writing books, they always say you cannot just say to an agent I'm sending you chapters 1, 7 and 10 because they are the most interesting ones!

Hi, thanks, good advice - it's a competition, prizes include agent representation, mentoring, courses as well as usual cash prize - so I'm sure everyone can now work out what it is..

It doesn't require a novel to be finished, only started - which, given most novels at this stage go through restructuring anyway made me think it might not be too much of an issue... I don't think any stage requires submission of the whole novel.

I don't think the chapter I mentioned is necessarily boring... it's still important for the story, moving it along etc. it's just not the best chapter - but good points that there may be some argument for a proper restructure! Don't think I have time for this particular deadline though.

I guess I could make the changes for the submission then continue to work on a restructure as suggested, that's not a bad idea.

@HolidayByMistake Can you tell me what you mean by 'structural conceit' please?

(And please explain in words a STEM person can understand?)

I have googled but didn't come up with anything that made much sense to me.