I used to think that the advice about "finish your manuscript and then sit on it for a month" was silly. Why would I do that? I was good enough, fast enough, I could zip through my revisions right after I finished my rough draft!
I was wrong. So, so terribly wrong.
See, here's my typical process:
1) I come up with an idea
2) I figure out where I want to start
3) I figure out where I want to end
4) I write a mock-query letter to give me some idea of what goes in the middle
5) Then I break it down into a very basic outline of the main events that need to happen
6) Then I start writing
Now, if I'm having trouble connecting my super huge plot-dots (I like that phrase, hee), then I'll go back and do a chap-by-chap outline to help me get to where I need to be. So then I write. And unlike most authors who give the internet interviews I read, I don't just sit down, write it out, and edit later. I have to edit as I go or else I lose my mind. Too many times with my fanfics have I had to scrap whole chapters because there was a major issue that was bugging me but I couldn't figure out at the beginning and I didn't go back and fix it, and so my whole chapter had a lousy foundation and then it crumbled and fell on my head. Let me tell you: ow.
So I write and revise as I go. In fact, every time I sit down to write some more, I skim over the last chapter or two and make any changes I feel are necessary (maybe I forgot a bit of foreshadowing, maybe I found a typo, maybe I mixed up a name, whatever). And then I finish my manuscript. This has seen me through 20 (almost 22) manuscripts, so I'm not worried about this part of my process not working.
(Memo: from what I've seen, they recommend not worrying about revision until you've done your first draft because a lot of aspiring writers look at what they've written and then get hung up on revising but never finish writing their piece. History shows I needn't worry about that little pitfall.)
But here's what happened. In February, I started a novel called HOUSE OF GEARS (which was and is awesome, by the way). And I finished it, and went back and had it beta'd by my critique partner and did my revisions, all in about a month. And then I queried it and actually got a partial request from the amazing Hannah Bowman and a full request from the also-amazing Lana Popovic.
Go me, right? Yeah, just one problem - GEARS wasn't ready. It was really good, even with only a month's work into it, but it wasn't good enough. So I despaired and then decided I would write a new novel and take off with it. Woot, woot!
Yeah, I did that. I have a habit of starting like 6 novels before narrowing my focus to the 1 or 2 that set me on fire, and then going back to the other ones after I've finished the first 2 (usually some plot changes inspired by distance from the project make the less-than-fiery ones burn me up to write them at this point). And I started some really great pieces that I'm going to go back to later. I also got a job, yay me! But eventually I thought, "I really miss the world of GEARS."
See, here's the thing about that - you need to write what you love, and I was IN LOVE with that book. It is, in my opinion, the best thing I have ever written (and finished). Of course, it's also my latest project, and each novel you write should get better, so there's that. But I was so depressed because I knew that GEARS was good enough to publish...wasn't it?
NO! No it wasn't. And this is where time and distance come in! Because I pulled it out a couple months later and I realized it needed some polish. It was good, don't get me wrong - but it wasn't great. My plot was awesome. It needed to be stellar. My prose was cool. It needed to be fantastic. And I needed to rein in my imagination a bit (in the words of one amazing agent who gave me some great advice on the manuscript) because while imagination is great, you need to give other people a roadmap into your head, too.
So I went back and I revised and I revised. And then I gave GEARS to my beta group (a team of mine I assembled at work consisting of about 7 people) and they checked it out. And they're not done yet. But when they are, and I revise based on what they say and what I think after not looking at GEARS for the month that they have it, only THEN will I query again. Because you really do need that time and distance to be more objective about your work.
Listen to agents, editors, and published writers. They really do know what they're talking about. And don't rush! I mean, I have to rush on my rough drafts because if I don't I can't sleep, but NEVER rush on revisions. You're only hurting yourself and your awesome project.
Laters!
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