When To Submit

A question was posed to me in the blog comments a few days ago: when do I submit my work to an online site or forum? I think it would motivate me to write more, but nothing feels 'finished' enough. Although I'm paraphrasing this question, it captures the essence of what it means to be a writer. No matter how long you work on a project, from the first chapter to the fifth editing, your work never feels 'finished'. You could spend your entire life tweaking the words of your magnum opus, but it is debatable whether your work will be improved by this endless editing. In fact, if I spend too long editing a novel, it tends to get worse instead of better.

I would encourage anyone and everyone to post their work online. Becoming part of a writing community is an excellent way to motivate yourself to write and raise your confidence. Just staring at the web page that hosts the first chapters of my novels sends a tingle down my spine. "Hey!" I think, "I wrote that! Me!" It's a great feeling.

Humans like things to be complete. They like endings. According to legend, Mozart's father woke him up every morning by playing the first seven notes of a scale on the piano. Mozart wanted to hear the eighth note so badly that he got out of bed to finish the scale. Seeing your novel online and noticing that all of the chapters are not there encourages you to write more. Also, don't worry if you only post part of your work online. Yes, it can be annoying for readers, but it's a good kind of annoying, and if the story is really good, your audience will eagerly await updates. When you see one in your e-mail inbox, it's a little like Christmas.

If your novel is actually finished and you are stuck in the editing process, you have no excuse. Put it up there for people to see and move on. After you get some comments, you can go back and tweak it later (or, better yet, find a beta reader to do it for you. Fresh eyes are always helpful).

Submitting to publishers is similar. Although it is important to show your best side by making sure that there are no typos or plot/character inconsistencies in your work before you send it to a publishing company, do not let it rot on your hard drive. Once you've done one or two good, thorough edits and had at least one other person go over it for you, you're ready to send it in. Don't worry about all the tiny word choices you made or the sentence you were not sure of. Yes, maybe you will be a better writer in a few years, but don't let that stop you from publishing, whether online or in print. This is the story you have written NOW, and it needs to get out there so that it, and you, can grow.