Weekend Writing Discussion: How Can You Be Sure?

This week's Weekend Writing Discussion question:

How can you be sure?

In writing, this question pertains to many areas of the craft. But the particular tributary of this question I want to chase down this weekend is, "How can you be sure your story is ready to submit?"

There are two (doomed) paths often trod upon by writers pursuing that first agent, that first book deal, that first "champagne moment." One path is taken by those writers who finish the first (or second, or third) draft of a manuscript and feel all giddy and decide to start submitting. The other path is taken by those plodding, meticulous writers who probably edited their manuscript throughout the writing process, and have continued to edit it for years afterward, and still have not thrown it into the proverbial lions' den where agents and editors await.

There is another path, of course - the right path, incidentally - somewhere in the middle. But this path is well-guarded by brambles and trees. This is the path of "editing the right amount, and submitting once the manuscript is ready."

In order to find that path, one thing you must remember is that your manuscript will probably go through rigorous edits once you have an agent, and it will go through more rigorous edits once you have an editor. But the key is, you have to brush enough of the dirt away so the manuscript is presentable, without scrubbing the darn thing so much that you take away the finish.

How can you be sure it is time to submit?

My answer? Well...

When I first started submitting The Great Lenore to agents, it was not ready. All errors and continuity issues and flaws and whatnot had been brushed away. The writing was good. The story was good. But it was not ready.

When I landed an agent for The Great Lenore, it was not ready.

When my agent began to submit The Great Lenore to editors at major publishing houses (editors with whom she had a good relationship; editors with whom she had talked about the story already; editors who were excited to read it...and who passed on the book in the end - because it was not ready) it was not ready.

When my agent and I parted ways and I began to submit to agents again, The Great Lenore was not ready.

The Great Lenore was not ready until about 10 or 15 different agents read the full and returned to me with their thoughts, and I put these thoughts together and tried to derive singular advice from them. And I applied this advice. And that was when I got my publishing deal.

But of course, you do not have to do all the things I did in order to uncover that middle path. Looking back, I realize the landmark(s) are quite simple.

When I submitted to agents the first time and the second time, I knew The Great Lenore was not ready. It was good, sure. It was good enough to land an agent. It may even have been good enough to land a publishing deal. But if I had asked myself, "Ten years from now, will you be happy that The Great Lenore was your first published novel?" my answer would have been No. Buried in the bottom of my consciousness, I knew that something was missing from the novel at the time. And I knew I needed to either scrap the novel completely or figure out those missing components.

There is no "set number of edits." There is no "set amount of time."

If you are anything like me, this is what you should do: After you complete what you feel are your "final edits," let the manuscript sit for about a month; then read it; and ask yourself, "Ten years from now, will I be happy that this was my first published novel?"

If the answer is No, keep brushing off that dirt.

If the answer is Yes...well, it might be time to throw your words into the lions' den.

These are my thoughts.

What are yours?

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