Figuring out what to do next with your novel—when to do something “next”—is perhaps even tougher than getting the whole thing down on paper. There have been more than a few times when I’ve been tempted to just get my manuscript out of my hands already. For example:

1. Before it was finished.
2. Before I’d reread it.
3. Before I’d edited it once.
4. After I’d edited it once.
5. Before anyone else had read it.
6. After I’d edited it twice.
7. Before I’d done a thorough copyedit/proofread.
8. When there were still a few plot points I didn’t feel lined up quite right (maybe an agent could fix that for me).
9. When I knew one of the secondary characters wasn’t complex enough yet.
10. When I’d read through the first six chapters so many times I couldn’t see straight anymore, and had no idea if they actually made sense.
11. When I was feeling too impatient to take the step away that would remedy #10.
12. When I thought the whole thing might be a lost cause, but it would be better to have someone else tell me that—on the off chance that I was totally wrong.
13. When someone else I knew was published in one way or another and I felt like I was falling behind.

The list goes on.

Talking about writing a novel and writing a novel are two very different things. The phrase “easier said than done” comes to mind.

If you’ve experienced any of the above, stay tuned for how I knew that my manuscript and I were, in fact, ready.