Writer Senses

I am at a loss where to even start. I have finished my first draft of my novel, I am powering through my editing and preparing my second draft for critique. I am getting really close to having my novel ready to send to the chopping block of the publishing world. I just don't know where to even begin this process. I want to go the traditional route and have a publishing company publish me. This is the first novel I have ever really finished, and I have been working on the idea of this story for years. To be honest, I never thought I would get to the point I would be close to ready to publish, and it is getting more real than I ever expected it to. I have been given a ton of positive feedback and feel that with a little bit more shine I have a good candidate for publishing. Any advice for those who have gone through this that knows where, who, why, what, and any other questions I should be asking or answering, your help is much appreciated. ******** Dear Writer, Congrats ...

I have read all over that the last thing you want to do is start your story with a dream. The thing is, it's not my intent to start my story out in a cheesy dream sequence. In fact, it's not even a dream. It's a premonition that is relative to the plot of the story. When I chose to start out this way, it wasn't because I thought "ah! I'm going to start my story in a cool dream just to throw the reader for a loop once they realize this isn't really happening". It's how I saw my story starting. And it's not intended to throw my reader for a loop, it's intended for the reader to want to know more about this premonition. Now after the premonition takes place, if you read further, you will see that it's not a dream. You will learn as you read that my MC has the gift of premonitions, and that this particular premonition has manifested itself in her waking state, as she received an injury from the premonition. So the problem is, I underst...

I have a scene where the MC wakes up in her boyfriend's bed. She talks with him for a while then makes an excuse to leave. At some point, I though, "Hm, they didn't even mentioned or ate breakfast." Note: the time is around eight a.m. In another scene, they meet for a date. In the first draft, they go to a restaurant, but then I changed the location to a library. At some point, I thought, "Hm, they don't eat dinner in the whole date." Note: the time is around seven p.m. Do you think this is an issue? Or the reader will just assume the characters ate between scenes (or behind scenes)? Or maybe the readers don't care at all? (Right now, I only make the characters eat when they are in a bar, restaurant, or while they are doing something else like using the computer.) ******** Dear Writer, There are two main ideas to consider. First is "Chekhov's Gun." Anton Chekhov argued that if a gun is present on stage in act I of a pla...