Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Market Ready ?

I’m stuck in a dilemma of sorts. How do you know when to stop? I mean edits of course. I found a great article in “the Writer” magazine that addressed this. Submit is a word we writers use all the time. But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means? I hadn’t. Pop in the mail and sit back and wait doesn’t even come close.

Submit means to lie down, give up or surrender. Wow! Now that’s what I feel like. I’ve gone over and over this WIP till my fingers ache and my eyes cross. At this point, I’m just rearranging or searching for a word that might make the sentence a bit more powerful. But the truth is, the story is finished. I don’t intend to change it. I must submit.

According to the article by William Kowalski, I’ve reached the state of mind a novelist must enter before deciding my work is ready. I guess I should be excited about this, right? It couldn't come at a better time. The kids will be going back to school soon. That means I'll have more time to research agents and publishers. Until then, I’m going to sleep on it and see if I come up with a reason not to just surrender and take that next step with all I've got. :)