How'd you know when your novel's ready?

louise

I've "finished" my novel for six months now - sent it off and had it returned :(

I've had a look through it and (with fresh eyes as they say) have found I could improve it. So, if when six months ago I thought it perfect, but now I find I can improve it and even correct a couple of mistakes :( , can I trust myself that it's now perfect? And >whispers< dare I resend it to the agents that refused it?

dorothyd

You can always revise and keep on revising ... but there comes a point when you have to stop.
I have used this metaphor before, but it fits here. I used to do church flower arranging, especially for the big festivals. We flower arrangers would stand there, putting flowers in, taking flowers out and there had to come a point when you had to leave it, or the oasis would collapse and the whole thing would have to be done again. Your book is like that. It needs time away from it, yes, but be careful not to over do the rewrites. Just make it the best you can and send it out again.

Second question, no, don't send it back,it doesn't work. When I did a mass mailing through equeryonline, they sent the outline to several agents who had already turned it down. They turned it down again ...

Stirling

Is it the novel or the query? Was the request based on the query?

Why not come over to Absolute Write and get some feedback. Someone just recently asked the very same question.

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125711

Stan2

^

Rosalie

This is one of the hardest things - or I think so, anyway. One way to tell, I think, that a novel is nearly "there" is when the changes you make each time you read it are very small. If this happens over 2 successive readings, it may well be settling into its final form. But if the last time you read it you made big changes (i.e. not just minor stylistic things) then the chances are you will need to leave it for a while before coming back for a re-read and some further revisions. Because of course making big changes always messes things up - you introduce (or I do!) a whole lot of new small errors - or things that can be improved on.

Hope this makes some sense. It's only a partial answer and I would love to be better at this.

louise

thanks everyone.
I popped over to Ab Write, Stirling, and saw that it I had to pay to join. It wanted me to use paypal and so I logged off. I don't like putting my bank details into my computer.

Stirling

You don't have to pay to join. If you want to donate money, you can. You don't have to.

louise

Oh, ok. I didn't realise it was voluntary. :)

Stirling

See you over there then!

Lou Treleaven

I think of a novel in progress as quite fluid. You can always improve on it - and, of course, when (let's be optimists this year - WHEN not IF!) it gets accepted by a publisher, they will probably want to make further changes. I would keep tinkering between submissions, if you want to.

Stirling

Have you thought about entering it into Yeovil Competition? They have a new Novel category this year.

louise

Not heard of it, Stirling. Thanks. I'll have a google. :D

Hmm had a look. Interesting...
Think I'll give it a go. :)

Stirling

I'm entering too. Good luck!

Dwight

I agree with Rosalie, Louise: if you are making significant changes, these might impact on the text all over the place. Imagine, for instance, deciding to delete one of the characters because they don't affect the plot and you want to cut 5,000 words. Chop them out, and all references to them. And likewise at the stage of minor one-word changes: I'll bet most of them could remain unchanged.

Stan2

^

louise

Stirling, if you enter into the comp, does that mean you can't send off your book to agents etc?