The Linchpin Writer: Is My Draft Ready Yet?

In The Linchpin Writer there is no chapter entitled “How To Tell If Your Manuscript Is Ready”. Why not? Well, it’s rather impossible for John to answer that. I imagine him saying, “ready for what?” To get published? For a developmental edit? For a copy edit? To read to the blackbirds nesting in my lemon tree? In my case, I want to know when my manuscript will be ready to get published. So obviously my manuscript is complete, right? Of course not. I’m halfway through the first draft.

Since I’m impatient, I started reading John’s book again with the need to drag out an answer. Especially since my draft isn’t ready for anything I needed an answer. I got as far as the top of page 3. John writes:

The confidence of knowing this book is your best work.

            This got me thinking. So, my manuscript isn’t ready, but who cares? How confident am I that I’m writing the best book that I can? I put aside the first book I wrote (The Demon on Stilts) because it was so not ready that I stopped my revisions. I got to thinking about my current novel. I know that my current novel is better. The characters are richer and the prose is a notch above what I wrote a year ago. The manuscript feels better. It feels like I am currently writing the best book I can. I don’t have a mentor, so I guess I’m just going to have to decide for myself when the time comes. I can feel the time is approaching quickly. So, this is what I can say with confidence:

 I’m confident knowing that I’m writing the best book that I can.