Get On With It

Programming Note: MONDAY IS THE START OF AUTHOR CRUSH MONTH. So very exciting. Who will our fav authors be? Come on back and find out some tips from our lineup of stellar authors.

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Wow, what a month we have had learning about revision from Margie Lawson. My brain hurts. How about yours? Did you catch this conversation in the comments?

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thewhatifgirl said in January 26th, 2010 at 7:44 pm

My head is whirling. I am at college-level thinking. I like it.

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Margie Lawson said in January 26th, 2010 at 8:17 pm

HELLO WHAT-IF GIRL!

It’s graduate and post-masters level.

I taught undergrad, masters level, and post-masters degree courses. My courses for writers are definitely at the masters and post-masters level.

Wish I could award college level credits to writers who completed my on-line courses and Immersion Master Class sessions.

Thank you! Glad your brain is happy.

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Yeah. College-level.

So today I’m wondering, after all this revision, how do you know when you are done with a WIP? When is it ready to submit, or how can you tell if it should get stashed in a drawer never to see the light of day?

Well, for one, if you have truly written the best book you can write at your current level, I think you should submit it somewhere. A contest, an agent, an editor. Somewhere. Don’t waste all that time and effort.

Why? Because submitting your work needs to be a routine. If all you do is write and leave your work on your computer you are as good as stalled in the water. You need to keep moving forward. Develop a tough skin for rejection. Chances are the first novel you send out will be rejected by everyone you send it to. May as well get it over with.

Then, keep track of the kinds of rejections you are getting. If all you are getting is form letters, you’ll know that your writing isn’t where it needs to be yet. But this is valuable information. It means you need to change something—about the story, maybe your work habits, maybe send it through another pass of Margie’s EDITS program.

What if you are getting some positive responses but no takers? It might be your writing level. It might be your idea. Again, you need to change something.

Check out the Writing and Illustrating blog where an Editor Tallies Reasons for Rejection. The most common problem was the work was not good enough. But how do you know you are submitting too early unless you get a feel for it?

Caveat: Really make sure this is your best effort. Do NOT send out your first draft. Or your second. Get your manuscript as polished as you can and then let your critique group see it. If they have been reading your WIP all along, you need to find a fresh reader. Preferably someone who is not your best friend. A stranger would be good.

Peer critique/edit:

How to find a stranger? Take an online class where you pair up with a critique partner. Or, if you’re made of sterner stuff, join an online critique group. For example, I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. It’s a paid membership where members critique each other’s posted work.

We’ve even got free places to get critiques  listed on our Contests page.

Paid critique/edit:

There may come a time when you have exhausted your friends, your family, and your online writing friends. Why not try hiring a professional? N.M. Kelby, author of the new book “The Constant Art of Being a Writer” talks about what to do if you’ve sent your work out to 20 agents and have received 20 form letters. She has this to say about hiring some help: “you really should take a moment and consider sending it to a professional editor to get some feedback.” When talking about the expense, she compares it to the cost of ordering out a few lunches: “You can always make a sandwich for lunch, but you can’t always figure out what’s wrong with your book, so it’s money well spent.”

Conferences have been the standard place to get a paid critique, but lately I’ve seen more and more editors or lit assistants opening up critique services.

Now, after getting a bunch of rejections you may want to set that particular book aside and start sending out the next one (because you did write another while you were querying on the first, right?) Maybe take that second book to a paid critique before you start the submission process all over.

Last thing, the title? Get On With It? Borrowed from the book Kitty mentioned a few weeks ago, Revision, by David Michael Kaplan. I’ve been saying this catch phrase to myself all day today while I’ve been revising. On page 66 he says, “The big reason you’re cutting what’s not essential, of course, is that your story has to move, has to Get On With It.” Great advice. I think it applies to our writing careers as well. You have to keep moving forward. You have to Get On With It.

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