HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY BOOK IS DONE?
Updated: Jul 5, 2021
To publish or not to publish?
Short answer, you don’t ever really know that your book is done. Because here’s the thing, it never has to be. You could take that manuscript and rewrite, edit, and scratch it a hundred times over if you wanted to.
Novels don't need to take years to write, I promise.
You are in a constant state of change. As a person and as a writer, your opinions, outlook on life, and skill level are constantly evolving. Therefore, something you write today is going to be completely different than something you'll write even six months from now. So, do you hold on to your manuscript and keep changing it or do you let it go? Where is that line?
Let’s talk about it.
Personally, I try not to obsess about it too much. Writing should be freeing, not stressful. Especially with your first book, let yourself be impulsive. When you get tired of it, stop writing. When you get caught up in an incredible new concept, move on to it while you’ve got that passion in you. There is no “right way” to write. The creative process behind it is entirely up to you. Remember, you have to write for yourself first. If you aren’t absolutely in love with your book, your readers won’t be either. They can sense when it is forced.
I’ve found that whatever is on my mind or going on in my life at that time bleeds into what I’m writing about. That is where my head and heart are so that’s what my writing centers around. I’ll hold onto those thoughts and emotions and let them take me- and my manuscript- wherever it feels most natural. Then, when that chapter of my life comes to a close, I move on to a new book.
‘If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.’ ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs
Trying to drag a story that felt true to me at a certain point in my life over years of growth tends to make me lose sight of where my story was originally meant to go. If you are ready to move on in your life from those things that ring really true to you in your story, then your story needs to stay in that place too.
I'll give you an example. My first book ended up turning into a trilogy. The first book, Renegade, I absolutely loved writing. By the second book, I felt the passion for that project start to fade away as I was changing and my life was taking me in different directions. It took me forever to write the third book because I kept having to try to look back at what I was writing and force myself into the mindset of a writer who I'd outgrown.
In retrospect, I wish I had just written all three books consecutively and worried about the editing and publishing process of each afterward. Because once you lose inspiration, the books come out flat and the spark behind them fades as you grow and change. You'll feel yourself start to push aside the new ideas that you want to write because you feel obligated to keep chugging away on that one story you wish was over already.
Looking back on your writing can be hard because once it is published, there is no more changing it. And it is never going to feel as truly you as it did when you wrote it. Accepting that your writing is reflective of a certain point in your life, rather than you as a whole, and letting it exist as it is can be really freeing as an author. You are going to look back at your writing and have regrets. You are going to be embarrassed by it, you are going to want to throw it all away and start over sometimes.
That feeling? It’s a good thing.
It means you are evolving as a writer.
I know what you're afraid of. That image of your future self thinking,
“If only I had held onto that manuscript and waited. I could do so much better now.”
Then do it! Forget about the writer you were, those books are going to ring true to people who are in the same stage you were when you wrote them. Start a new book and stay true to who you are now.
