So, the big revision has been done for a bit, and I’m going over beta reader critiques. There’s definitely stuff to be touched up on, but it’s very close to being done an this is by far my best work yet. Of course though, it must be shiny as shiny can be before I want to send it to editors. I may start sending out queries to agents though – it’s at a stage where I don’t think the touching up I have yet to do is going to change an agent’s answer. It’s mostly fiddling at this point. Possibly adding one scene, but I have to figure out what’s to be in that scene. I might have it though, just involves some rearranging, which may even make another scene run a tad smoother.
And thanks to my beta readers giving me valuable feedback. There will always be things I don’t pick up on myself because I know what I’m trying to say in my head. I think writers will always need a second set of eyes to keep them honest.
But there comes a point when the author needs to decide how much fiddling is enough, and send it out into the world to fend for itself. I’m edging towards that point. I’m sure I want to have at least one person finish the novel (besides the mother in law, who’s biased :P) to get feedback on the ending. There’s one other point in the ending I may change, and the more I think about it, the more I think I’ll need to change it, because it’s just not as meaningful if the character making the decision hasn’t got anything left to lose.
That and one other scene might need some delicate treatment for potentially triggering subject matter, and a minor character’s dialogue needs to be completely rewritten so that he doesn’t sound uneducated because when I originally wrote the character, he and another character weren’t brothers, and there was no need for them to have similar backgrounds in education.
Down to nitpicky things, mostly though. And then, copyediting for flow – I have a friend who’s really awesome at that.
And I have written a query letter, and said friend has gone over it to beat the lumps out so it reads smooth and makes sense. I will touch up my synopsis too, since it’s a 1 and 1/2 page synopsis, and I should be able to get away with two for most queries.
Then, out into the wide scary world with it!
Lindsay Kitson - Author and Pilot 
Good luck with the last of the revisions! I hope your book finds a home soon.
Thanks! I’m more confident about this than any other project I’ve worked on.
You probably remember James Baldwin’s remark that whenever he finished a piece of writing he put it on the table and it immediately started to look like a cold pizza. Your words remind me of that thought — but lean back, take a breath, and if it’s what you wrote and it has at least one true sentence, send it off and listen to what comes back. That’s the feedback you need. Luck….
After the first draft is when I like to take my step back. Then when I go back to revise, I’m coming at it a fair bit fresher. I’ve got a near final draft of another novel, and a first draft of one, and a first draft halfway done, so I can switch up between projects and give my self some space between them to stay fresh and not get bored. I find that helps a lot.
But when it’s finished-finished, that might be different.