Writers: How Do You Know When You're Ready?

Photo: Public Domain via Pixabay.com

For over a year -- almost two -- I've watched as agent-judged query contests, pitch opportunities and 250-word critiques pass by since I hadn't completed a manuscript.

The day has come!

I finally have "finished" my Work-in-Progress, but when is a work truly finished? I've revised entire sections, I've sent first pages to several writers for critique (an on-going process) and I received feedback from a contest a few months back, which spawned several revisions.

Have you ever revised so much you start to go crazy with changing the same things repeatedly? I'm wondering if this is a clue to send forth my story to a wider arena: blogs offer plenty of opportunity to have pitches and first pages critiqued and judged. Here's a link to one of the upcoming opportunities: Teen Eyes Editorial Contest hosted by: Brenda Drake Writes, Miss Snark and Mother Write Repeat.

How do you determine when you're ready to share your story with a wider audience? Have you personally received feedback from an agent or published author contest (on a blog or elsewhere) that helped you in your revision?

Book Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity
Elizabeth Wein
YA Historical
Published: May 2012

Code Name Verity is set in World War II, where Verity has been captured by the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied France. She tells her story as a prisoner of war through letters she is allowed to write in order to shed English strategy, airfield locations and codes. Verity is headstrong, bold, and at times, you wonder, delusional. She reveals the history leading up to her capture, detailing training missions and her friendship with beloved Maddie, a pilot who trained prior to the war who ends up running missions for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. You see the sweetness of their friendship matched against the very real stakes of working as informants/participants in the war.

I admit, I had trouble investing in this book in the beginning given the unconventional narration; it's told in first person from Verity, then in third person through the letters, where her identity is rather fluid and not quite clear (on purpose), and later from Maddie's perspective. While not an easy read, it's worth the struggle. I enjoyed  the peek into the British war effort. Many historical details are rooted in truth, and it's evident the author compiled quite a bit of research for this story.

Code Name Verity is full of danger, adventure and mystery with tragic details that I wish I could say are totally fiction, but I know are also based on truth considering the brutality of war. I can see this book making a lot of year-end best lists and award nominations. Overall, it's inspiring to read about the lives sacrificed during the war, and how many women probably have stories like this that have never been shared.