Make the book more, not less

I can’t tell you how many critique sessions I have sat through where the critiquer isn’t trying to make *this* book better, but rather to transform it into *that* book. It’s mostly unconscious (though occasionally, real evil will come out). The critiquer simply likes *that* kind of book better than *this* kind of book. And beginning writers will occasionally be swayed by the enthusiasm of the critiquer, as they carefully write up their notes.

Beware!

I have done this oh, so many times. I have decided that I needed to write a completely different book because *this* book was clearly wrong because all my critiquers said that it was wrong, so I had to believe them, right? Well, maybe and maybe not.

If you think there is something wrong with your book, make it a better book by fixing the problems, but don’t write a completely different book. Make it more itself, more of you, more of the good stuff that you love, not less.

Or if you truly believe that there is no way to fix the book, let it go. Don’t keep trying to rework it into the better book. Just start over. And maybe you can go back to the first book when you have a clearer head or when you are a better writer. Or maybe not.

Revision is a lot of work, yes. Revision may sometimes feel like you are changing things so much it’s like a different book. But like a different book is not the same as actually writing a different book.

Your book may not be good enough. It may not sell. But writing a different book out of it isn’t going to make it better. It’s just going to delay the rejection, which is possibly the reason that we writers tend to do this thing where we start from scratch again.

Give your book a chance. Give yourself a chance. Pour more of yourself into this book. Bleed and cry and dance and make a fool of yourself. Because that’s the only way that you’re going to really see if you’re a writer or not.