Wednesday, October 5, 2016

IWSG Post - When do you know your story is ready?

I can’t believe that we have reached the 10th month of 2016. This year has flown past at an amazing speedy that’s made me giddy. It’s time for our monthly IWSG post.  IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) is the place we writers hang around online, sharing our writing insecurities, anxieties, worries, clearing our doubts and learning from each other. As all the writers are at different stages of their publishing journey, there is a wealth of information on the IWSG website. We post on the first Wednesday of every month.

We all have to thank Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh (author of the Amazon Bestsellers: CassaStar, CassaStorm, CassaFire and Dragon of the Stars) for starting this awesome group.

The October 5th Question: When do you know your story is ready?

When I feel I have done all that I can to get my story in the best shape possible, I know it’s ready for submission to editors and agents. When I feel I can’t change anything anymore I know that my story is ready to be sent out. And that is after several revisions with the help of my critique partners and my own frequent rereads.

Nowadays I trust my inner editor a lot. I know instinctively that I need to work some more on my story before pressing the send button. For my last manuscript which I will start querying from this week, I was reluctant to start querying for it as I felt that it wasn’t ready to be sent out yet.

I’m eager to read all your posts to know when you all know/feel that your story is ready.


21 comments:

  1. I think you raised an important point, Rachna ~ As we gain experience as writers, we come to trust that inner editor a lot. If your inner editor is not happy, you know it; and you're going to keep rewriting and editing until that editor is satisfied. Good luck with your querying!

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  2. Experience does help us to be more ready to hear that inner voice telling us when it's ready or not.

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  3. Good question to ponder! I think my process is like yours, Rachna. I rewrite and rewrite, based on my own rereading and the comments of my writing group and beta readers. In my last book, after all of that, I had three new readers read it who had never seen it before, so they had no preconceptions or expectations. And then I rewrote it again. And then I put it aside for another two weeks, and went through it for all the picky small stuff I might of missed. And then I really felt it was ready to pitch and query. But I agree: that inner editor becomes more and more one's guide as you write more books.

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  4. Experience does teach us what 'done' looks like. More or less anyway.

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  5. That's great you've developed a better sense when your manuscript is done. Good luck with querying.

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  6. The longer you've been at writing, the more "inner sense" you acquire to know when your stories are ready or not. Did that make sense? :) I had no clue when I first started writing how much editing is involved in the writing process.

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  7. Trusting our inner editor is so important, and I think it's something we grow into the longer we write, the more we challenge ourselves, etc.

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  8. My inner editor is still on probation and has a lot to learn. I hope she will soon qualify :) Have a great month and thank you for sharing.

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  9. The more experience we gain as writers, the better we are at knowing when a story is ready.

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  10. It's great when we reach the place where we can trust our inner editor. :)

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  11. Trusting the inner editor is vital. When I've submitted stories to my editor, she ALWAYS picks up on the parts I'm not quite sure of. I should listen more!

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  12. Trusting the inner editor is vital. When I've submitted stories to my editor, she ALWAYS picks up on the parts I'm not quite sure of. I should listen more!

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  13. Really interesting post...thx for sharing! xx

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  14. I like that you follow your instincts. I do a little of that too. :-)

    Anna from elements of emaginette

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  15. Trusting that inner editor is important. I know that feeling of not wanting to let the story go into the world quite yet. Best of luck with your querying!

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  16. I love that you trust your "inner editor" to know when a story is done. I think thats the only true answer to this question.

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  17. After a while, you learn to trust your instincts or "inner editor" when a work is done. Letting go is hard but necessary.

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  18. I wait until a CP named Rachna tells me it's ready, of course;)

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  19. Hi Rachna,

    Congrats on your new story... Good luck querying.. I just finished up a HUGE illustration project and (posted one at my blog), and now that the loft is done I am ready to jump into my PB... Yes, finally! I got a great idea from a PB author friend to really make the piece unique and fun!

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  20. I'm the same way. Great answer!

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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  21. Once you've done all you can it's definitely time to stop.

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