The Fake Redhead Writes

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The Waiting Game

Rome wasn’t built in a day, you guys, and the plans weren’t drawn up that quickly either.

Note how the header to this post says that you “must” wait before making any moves on your manuscript.

Noted?

Awesome.

Because I used “must” for a reason.

I didn’t say “should” or “it’s recommended” or anything along those lines where you have an option.

You DON’T have an option. You MUST wait.

Now, who am I to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do with your work, especially since I’ve spent the last, what, five and a half months giving you recommendations with the caveat of, “but also, you do you.”?

Well, I am a writer.

Says who? Says me.

And as a writer, I am brutally aware that I am too close to the #WhoIsTalyaNightingale manuscript. That’s a fact, and it’s normal. When you spend as long as I have writing a book (while also planning…a large number of other novels that fit into a shared universe), I have no choice but to get close to what I’m working on.

If you’re not close to your work, you don’t love it with a fiery passion of a thousand and a half suns, then maybe you should take some time to reconsider what you don’t love and…fix it. (You should always want to love your work, and if you don’t, then you’re probably not going to finish it to your satisfaction).

But with loving your work and wanting it to potentially get it published someday, you have to measure your expectation and with that means finding ways to step back from your manuscript when you’re done with the first draft.

And also, if you’re thinking about reaching out to agents after finishing one draft,  then STOP. NO. THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS.

What agents want presented to them is a manuscript that is COMPLETED (beginning, middle, and ending with all the scenes and transitions and fight scenes that apply) and POLISHED.

And what does ‘polished’ mean?

Polished means edited.

Want to know how many drafts the #WhoIsTalyaNightingale manuscript underwent before I deemed it ready for querying?

Five.

I completed FIVE. FULL. DRAFTS of just ONE story. A story that is probably going to undergo MORE revisions before it becomes an actual book.

Sounds insane?

While I AM a perfectionist, it’s really not.

But in order to get from Draft One to Draft Five, I took breaks.

And you should too.

So, click the Continue Reading button for four reasons why taking breaks between edits of your manuscript is CRUCIAL to your success as a writer.

Continue reading “4 Reasons Why You MUST Wait Before Moving On Your Manuscript”