Just Send It!
Working With Editors Series: Part Four
Net's Notations Tuesdays
Oh, we writers could spend forever making little changes to our manuscripts, couldn’t we? Raise your hand if you have a hard time pressing send. Now, a little caution is good. Don’t be too quick to shoot off so much as an email to anyone without the once-over. But don’t use caution as an excuse to hold on to a manuscript you know needs to be sent.
So, you’ve gotten through your edits—after all, you’re a pro. But you’re still fretting over some issues here or there. Maybe your editor gave you a general instruction to see if you could include more conflict in a certain section, or maybe add more tension. You’ve got a little leeway, a little wiggle room. You’ve got some rewriting to do. So, how long should you labor over those rewrites?
This very situation is why we discussed taking a breather before diving in earlier this month. Same concept applies here. Rewrite. Then, take a break. Later, approach that section with a fresh perspective. Then, rework as necessary.
The key here is there comes a time when you have to just send it! You’ve done all you can do, made the requested changes (and then some, if you’re anything like me), and you have to send it off.
If you sit there thinking it has to be perfect first, you’ll never send it because it never will be.
If you wait until you know everything there is to know about writing, until you have the next writing craft lesson under your belt, you’ll never send it. We’re always growing as writers (hopefully).
If you procrastinate out of fear, dig deep. What are you afraid of? Succeeding? Failing? Both? Those sound like issues for prayer. So, pray. Then, just send it!
Some rules in submitting:
Don’t exasperate your editor.
Don’t procrastinate.
Don’t miss your deadline.
And if you’ve done all you can do, followed your editor’s suggestions, and the deadline is fast approaching: just send it!
