So I’ve decided to add another character to my book. I know, I know—I foresee all sorts of trouble in adding one but my book has left me no choice. It demands another character and so I have to relent and and do its evil bidding. Really though, it can be all kinds of trouble adding another character to your novel this late in the game. And I wouldn’t do it normally, but the changes I’ve made warrant adding another character. I’ve already got her outlined and I’m surprised at how real she already is. And I’ve made things a little easier for myself. How? I seriously considered making this character have a Jamaican accent. But doing that would require lots of more research, (even though I have been to Jamaica before) to get the dialect just right. So I scrapped the accent altogether. (Because after a few, “Hey mon,” she began to sound like the biggest cliché ever.) So a new character is added. Wish I could say after this it’s smooth sailing, but I’m afraid not. Welcome to the world of a writer.

I’ve talked about it a gazillion times on the blog—how I’m deep in revisions for my third novel. As I’m nearing completion of my third draft, (or is it my fourth? A girl stops counting after a while…) I am beginning to get anxious. I look at all these great books out there, and I start thinking, “That could be me! The beginning of my book is strong enough let me send it to a few agents and see what happens…”

This is what gets me in trouble every time. Sending my book out before it’s ready. And I know that it’s 80% there. But 80% is not 100%, so I have to wait and finish revising. I want to be able to say this time, without a doubt, that I sent my best work. (That thought should console me as I cry into my rejection letters…) I’m always rushing the process, because I want to hurry to that finish line—which for me is a published book. And I’ve been published before so I know some of the ends and outs of publishing, but I don’t know everything. (I can feel the hubby reading this and rejoicing, “It’s official! She finally admits that she doesn’t know everything!) I feel like having an agent will teach me so much about the publishing industry and it’s time to fess up and realize that I can’t go it alone. I need help.

I have a list of my top-ten agents that I want to work with. So I’m feeling anxious because I constantly wonder, “Is their client list full? Will they stop accepting submissions just as I’m ready to press send?”

So I’ve been taking a lot of deep breaths, and reminding myself that if that happens I will still be okay. That if my dream agent is no longer accepting submissions then I will do what all my author friends before me have done and just pick another agent off my list. And life will go on.

When we’re on a deadline, we feel the pressure to finish.  It can be likened to that impatient client who asks if we’re done yet.  When we’re under the gun, we try to send in our best work, but mostly we just want to be finished.

When we’re not facing looming deadlines, it can be hard not to keep fiddling with our work.  Even after we’ve done several necessary re-writes, we still want to poke around and change things.  But when does poking around shift to messing things up?  In other words, how do we know when our writing is finished?

I struggle with this, especially as I’m close to finishing my third novel and I’m approaching the dreaded re-write.  Sometimes my mind still drifts to my second manuscript and I wonder if I can poke at it more, if I need to change scenes around, delete scenes, or both.  I was sure when Six O’clock was finished, but my second manuscript is totally different than my first, and tackles deeper subject matter.  Did I do my characters justice?  Did I flesh them out enough?

Experience has to be my guide when I answer that yes, for now it’s finished. My gut tells me it’s done.  I know if I keep tinkering with it, especially when I’m feeling unsure about something, I’ll damage the integrity of the novel.  So I stop once I’ve done about four re-writes (that’s the number it usually takes for me to finish and that’s before my editor looks at it.), and I won’t change it again unless my editor points out needed changes.

When you’re doing someone’s hair you reach a point where it’s the bounciest, prettiest, it’s going to get.  If you keep tinkering, keep putting on hairspray, or keep slicing with your razor, you could turn something that would have been quite beautiful into something so ugly you’ll have to refund your client her money. 

It’s a delicate line with endings.  Experience and gut feelings have to be your guide to let you know that this time you mean it.  This time you’re done.  Anyone else want to chime in on when they’re novel is finished?