Last month, I posted about the current struggle I had with balancing writing with my day job.
When I came to the conclusion that my novel wouldn’t be done as soon as I had anticipated, I was disappointed but then also a little relieved. I now had realistic expectations. Even more importantly, I wouldn’t be stressed out trying to finish it.
I have a lot of writer friends who are working on novels and most of them want to be finished in 2010. Some of them are making good progress while others are stressing out. I tell my stressed out writer friends to ask themselves this question:
Do I want my novel to be done or do I want my novel to be done well?
There is a difference.
Having your novel done may mean that it’s got all of the things it needs on paper — word count, premise, plot, characters — but is it really ready? Is it the best it could be?
If you can’t answer that question with confidence (and all writers really know the answer deep down), don’t be afraid to revise and take more time.
Believe me I know as writers how we can get worked up about what is selling and how we should “hurry up” and get our work out there and catch the wave. Or how we’re afraid that our novel will be stale and that no one will buy it if we don’t finish it yesterday.
Remember, a good story is always in demand. The last thing you want to do is send a novel out before it’s really finished.
Finish your novel well.
How do you deal with the urge to be done with your novel? How do you know your novel is ready?
That urge drives me to work on the book. I know I need a break at times. And I’ve learned not to send things out too early. :)
Interesting post. When I’m not sure if it’s ready, then I hang onto it. At some point though you have to let it out into the world.
Laura: I’ve also learned the lesson of sending out a “draft” vs. a revised manuscript. Sometimes you only get one change to make an impression.
Karen: I really do think most writers know when their work is ready. Other times you may need to refer to other writers/mentors for their opinion. Usually, when we send something out before it’s ready and then get rejected — down deep I think we knew it wasn’t “quite” ready.
I usually know when something is ready when I’ve come to a point where all I’m doing is changing around words. But if I’m still changing scenes or chapters or just really not sure what the story is about — then I know the work isn’t ready.
Sometimes it’s so tempting to declare that a book is done because you’re sick of looking at it, but then it’s so important to ask yourself: “Is this the absolute best I can make it?” (Even if you might not like the answer.)
Very professional attitude. I have to agree with you that there’s no point in having a self-imposed deadline that’s going to stress you out. Isn’t it hard to know whether you’re “catching the wave” or not anyway, since it takes a long time from acceptance to publication? It’s definitely better to concentrate on writing a good story.
I read once that you’re not done with your story until you’re past the point of being sick of it – i.e. when you’ve battled through and feel good about what you’ve written, that it’s the best you can do. Instead of just being something you would like to chuck out the window.
My first novel has still not emerged from revisions without me being sick to death of the damn thing and desperate to be finished, so I know it’s not ready. Much as I wish it were. When I finish Novel 2, I’m going back to work on it, and I hope to finally make it to that happy place!
I love this post. That’s the question I ask myself when I feel stressed out because of writing as well. I try to hurry my novel along, but just because it’s written does not mean it’s written well. And I would rather have the latter. If that means more time spent on writing, then so be it.
Anna: Ha, I didn’t like the answer when I asked myself that question after I finished my first draft last summer. But now on the verge of finishing revision round #1, I’m so glad that I didn’t send it to anyone. It wasn’t ready.
Andrea: Totally right. The books that are “hot” now may not be as much 18 months from now — which is give or take the average lead time for a book sold like today. So writing for the hot market is really not a good idea.
Guinevere: Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. You are probably learning so much from Novel 2 that you can put into Novel 1. Good luck on your revisions.
Sandy: Getting impatient to get your novel “out there” hurts a lot of writers. The best thing to do is not stress yourself out. It’s still good to have goals as long as they are realistic with your current lifestyle. A lot of writers have other responsibilities — work, school, family — sometimes it’s not realistic to think you can have your novel done in six months. This is the start of a bad stressor with that type of thinking. Believe me, I know. Ha.
You make an excellent point. Your novel isn’t done until it is the very best it can be. Only then can you think about sending it out. I know when I go through it and don’t find errors or have the urge to fix something!
Heather: That’s a good method of knowing when you done — but I’m such a perfectionist I would probably be in the bookstore redlining books on the shelves. Ha.
I definitely agree with this. I’ve finished some things in good time, but I look back and know that I will never submit them to agents (I used to think – before I wrote a book – if you’ve finished a book, why on earth wouldn’t you submit it to agents? Then I grew up and realized that I didn’t want to be *that* person who hounds agents when I know my work isn’t up to snuff.)
If you want to be published, you want people to like your work. This is easier to do if you publish your best work.
Tiana: That’s a great way of thinking. I’m a very impatient person so this was hard for me at first. When I first heard that you should let a story “sit” before you revise it, I was like “Why? Let’s send that puppy out.” LOL.
Karen – I’m with you! You have to do your best and if that means taking more time and crossing your Ts then that’s what you need to do. It’s a long process anyway, so if you are in that much of a hurry, you might want to rethink the whole thing.
Lisa: Instant gratification was one of my problems when I first started writing. When I realized the “real” reason I wanted to write, I decided it was better to really work on the craft first rather than just finishing a novel that wasn’t ready for submission.