Progress Update
Isn’t it nice when there is actual progress on which to update people?
Last night I finished the edits on my spychick MS and sent the new draft off for review. Yay! The booty dance that ensued at Chez Melanie was a sight to behold, I assure you all. Now I just have to catch up on some other editing and then I can return to working on my paranormal. I’m hoping the initial confrontation between my hero and heroine won’t be so difficult now that I’ve let it simmer for a few weeks.
This morning driving to work, I had the usual frantic second thoughts about the completed MS—did I emphasize the action over the romance too much? Vice versa? Should I change the heroine’s job? Would it be more believable if she was a _______? So naturally, I called a friend who has read the MS and interrogated her about it. It took about half an hour, but she eventually convinced me that yes, it’s good, and yes, an editor has already requested it even after hearing about the heroine’s job and knowing about the romance/action equation. She also convinced me that I really do like the MS (or at least I did twenty-four hours ago). It’s just an attack of cold feet, and if I try to hang onto the MS until I have tried out every possible combination of hero/heroine/romance/action/career paths, I will never be finished.
The logical part of my brain knows that this is true, but I also know that there is a careful balance. I don’t want to send my baby out there until it’s ready to leave the nest, and yet at some point it has to go. So when is the right time? Every writer’s dilemma, right?
All of you writers (and agents, and editors, and CPs) out there, how do you know when a project is ready for submission? And how often do you wish you could reach back into cyberspace and snatch that puppy back five minutes after you’ve sent it on its way?
Last night I finished the edits on my spychick MS and sent the new draft off for review. Yay! The booty dance that ensued at Chez Melanie was a sight to behold, I assure you all. Now I just have to catch up on some other editing and then I can return to working on my paranormal. I’m hoping the initial confrontation between my hero and heroine won’t be so difficult now that I’ve let it simmer for a few weeks.
This morning driving to work, I had the usual frantic second thoughts about the completed MS—did I emphasize the action over the romance too much? Vice versa? Should I change the heroine’s job? Would it be more believable if she was a _______? So naturally, I called a friend who has read the MS and interrogated her about it. It took about half an hour, but she eventually convinced me that yes, it’s good, and yes, an editor has already requested it even after hearing about the heroine’s job and knowing about the romance/action equation. She also convinced me that I really do like the MS (or at least I did twenty-four hours ago). It’s just an attack of cold feet, and if I try to hang onto the MS until I have tried out every possible combination of hero/heroine/romance/action/career paths, I will never be finished.
The logical part of my brain knows that this is true, but I also know that there is a careful balance. I don’t want to send my baby out there until it’s ready to leave the nest, and yet at some point it has to go. So when is the right time? Every writer’s dilemma, right?
All of you writers (and agents, and editors, and CPs) out there, how do you know when a project is ready for submission? And how often do you wish you could reach back into cyberspace and snatch that puppy back five minutes after you’ve sent it on its way?
posted by The Urbanite at 4:17 PM
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