Is It Your Best Writing?

 

Snoopy is thinking what many writers think when they finish a story, essay, or poem and have a satisfying feeling. 

Writers put a great deal of time and effort into their work. Sometimes, when finished, we have that good feeling, but there are times when we come to the end and have kind of a blah feeling. Somehow we know what we've written was not our best effort. Or we are aware that they great idea we had in the beginning didn't blossom like we'd hoped. 

When you are satisfied with your final draft, the best thing to do is start finding a publication to submit to. But, when you're not feeling good about the finished product, it's time to do some more editing and revision. 

The first step is to put that draft away for days or even a couple weeks. It's not wise to try to work on it right away. You're already frustrated, and it might only increase that feeling if you tackle the rewrite too soon. 

When some time has passed, and you decide to work on that project again, ask yourself a few questions. As an example, let's say it is a short story.

A.  Did this story turn out the way I had envisioned it in my mind?

B.  Does it move too slowly?

C.  Are the sentences too choppy, or perhaps too long?

D.  Is there a sense of place?

E.  Is the dialogue stilted?

F.  Have I made the reader want to keep reading?

G.  Is it clear to the reader, or did I assume too much?

What you want to do is analyze the story using as much of an objective view as you can. It's not easy when it's your precious words you've written. 

Another approach is to let a writing group, or a writer friend, to look at it and give an unbiased opinion and some suggestions. 

Should you submit a story that doesn't make you happy or makes you feel good? You can, of course, but the odds are good that it will be rejected. We should only submit writing that makes us feel satisfied that we've done the best job we can. 

Snoopy is quite right when he tells us that it's exciting when we write something we know is good. That's when we're more than ready to submit for publication.