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When should you send?

[Deleted User][Deleted User]
edited August 2014 in Writing
Is is better to finish a novel, or send the 3 chapters you have completed off to a publisher?
Some may answer you are under more pressure to send the 3 chapters before finishing, but I already have the middle and end in my notes and head.
I don't wish to sound rude or arrogant, but highly value the answers from published writers rather than those with less experience in being published.

Comments

  • snailmalesnailmale
    Is this the fictional novel you've more or less just started on, HA?
  • snailmalesnailmale
    edited August 2014
    Oh, only just seen the new second paragraph you've just edited in,HA. Any opinions I might have are obviously of minimal value.

    Sorry I was so impertinent as to try to offer advice.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    Oops - I was going to post something, but as a published writer rather than a published author, my advice wouldn't be of value to you, HA.
  • LizyLizy
    No point in me saying anything, either.
  • caseycasey
    Sorry - can't comment.
  • CarolCarol
    Nor me.

    I do know the answer though. :-\"
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    The Reason I asked only published writers,whilst I have found you a great friendly bunch on this forum. I was not look for personal opinions,more of those who have had the experience. it seems that this thread had upset some of you, but I guessed that was going to happen. [-X
    I greatly value your opinions but I did not want loads of answers from people who have never sent off MS to publishers. I can only apologize to those who took my thread the wrong way and took offense.
    ^:)^
  • CarolCarol
    H_A, many of the members of the forum, though still trying to get published, have a wide experience of sending off to agents and publishers.

    Likewise we have all had some degree of contact with published writers, from either friendships formed via social media, groups, or from listening to and meeting published writers/agents at conferences and 1 to 1 spots, and so have a lot of knowledge available between us, despite many of us not having had a novel published.

    Non-fiction submission is different to fiction submission.
  • NephNeph
    edited August 2014
    Methinks you should really think about the tone of your posts, you do seem to take pleasure in rubbing people up the wrong way. If I were you I would have just asked the question and I am sure you would have received a lot of really helpful advice.

    We all contribute to this forum and we have made friends on here, through debate and discussion and tact and discretion. Some of us are published, some have had experience with publishers, some of us even are publishers.

    A little respect for the old guard really wouldn't go amiss.

    But I am sure your first three chapters will be fine in their first draft, and some publisher will snap your hand off and you will make a fortune.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    The Reason I asked only published writers,
    You didn't - you've edited your post - you asked for replies from published authors.

    it seems that this thread had upset some of you, but I guessed that was going to happen. [-X
    You didn't upset me - you annoyed me - and if you 'guessed that was going to happen' you got the replies you deserved.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    How could you successfully draft a synopsis if the book hadn't been completed?

    The synopsis is usually the first contact you'd have with the agent/publisher. After that you'd be invited (or ignored) to submit a chapter or three.

    Yes, that process might take months, but surely the manuscript would be at a 'polishing only' stage - if not dazzling with brilliance? After all, you've written the synopsis so you know the (written) plot.

    I've never written a novel, but I do appreciate how the system works. You only have to delve into the TB archives - or read a copy or two of a writing magazine - to get the idea.

    As you know, non-fiction works in a different way to fiction. I only have experience of writing articles - sub the idea, receive the commission, write the article and bank the cheque.
  • LizLiz
    I know the answer, too. And am published. Have done an MA in which such questions were covered fully, not only by the tutors but by agencies and publishers who came to talk to us. But am standing staunchly with my fellow TBers on this.
  • danfangodanfango
    Write the whole thing. Publishers aren't interested in ideas for a novel, which is all you have if you've only put the first three chapters together.
  • Lou TreleavenLou Treleaven
    Definitely write the whole thing. I haven't had a novel published (just articles and poems, and plays performed) but I have submitted many times and had many full manuscript requests. One request for the full manuscript arrived by email the day after I sent my three chapters in (by email). I was so glad I had the manuscript all done and ready to send. So tempting as it is, try to hold out and keep going until the end before you submit. And you may want to redraft several times anyway. Best of luck with it, whatever you decide to do.
  • toothlighttoothlight
    I learned the hard way, some years ago. I wrote, and rewrote the first three chapters before submitting, and was working on the rest when Scholastic replied, saying they were interested and would I send the rest by a certain date! It was then finished (sort of), and as I was going to London, delivered it by hand. I was-of course- disappointed when I got the rejection letter, but now I know the editor must have felt miffed seeing what was obviously a first draft. So the answer is a big YES to having a finished manuscript
  • caseycasey
    Or you could ask your publisher for their preference, given you are already being published.
  • sallyjsallyj
    You need to finish the novel. What happens later in the story may mean you have to go back and change those first three chapters.
    By the way, I don't have a published novel.
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