I’ve gone both ways on this question in the past, but I thought about it a little more over the last week, and I’ve decided: Yes. Yes, you do. Because, as Maxwell Perkins said, "You can't know a book until you come to the end of it, and then all the rest must be modified to fit that"; and because what you want to send, and what I want to see, is your very best work—a draft you’ve completed, thought about, reread, tweaked, polished, perhaps had other people read, and in general taken to the point where you’ve done everything you can with it, and you’re ready for an editor’s (or agent's) opinion or advice. And no matter how assiduously you plan out your writing, I don’t think you can know what your very best work is until you’ve actually written it. So yes: Finish the manuscript first.
Friday, August 08, 2008
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I have another FAQ for you...would you talk about some of the differences between YA and MG? Google has failed me on this: most people talk about ages of characters and length book, but I'd like to know more about differences in tone, theme, voice, etc.
ReplyDelete(And speaking of ages, do you think that 15 years old is too old for an upper MG character?
Ah, so Richard Peck is borrowing from Maxwell Perkins in his craft-of-writing talks. Peck's version is: When you get to the end of the manuscript you finally know what it's really about, which is why you must throw away the first chapter and re-write it -- because the first chapter should be the last chapter in disguise.
ReplyDeleteI like that last bit--the first chapter should be the last one in disguise! Excellent--and makes me feel loads better for having written my first chapter about five times now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the FAQ update. I always worry about that, and know every editor/agent feels differently.
ReplyDeleteI TOTALLY agree. And I have more selfish reasons, too--if I'm really into and excited about a manuscript, I want to read it ALL. Right. Now. It's killer to have to wait for the end to be written.
ReplyDeleteI'm quoting your Maxwell Perkins and the Richard Peck quotes for my critical thesis paper I'm trying to have finished by tonight. They're good quotes.
ReplyDeletePlus, what happens if you query, including a sample chapter, and the editor requests a partial or a full, and you can't provide? Looks very unprofessional...
ReplyDelete