Doubts About Book on Submission and Talent in General

I do this. I have a love-hate relationship with my own writing, or perhaps a manic-depressive one. When I'm racing to the end of a first draft or a revision, I LOVE my book. I have rose-colored glasses. I think it should be a best-seller, yadda yadda. My rational mind does reality checks, but my imagination just keeps being delusional.

Usually the worm doesn't turn until the book starts getting rejections. Then I doubt everything.

But once I figure out how to make it better and get engrossed in my revision, I love it again. That's how I've managed to keep revising a certain book for years now. (I have shelved or trunked my share, but some stories I won't let go.)

After I got an offer from my current agent, it took me a long time (well, maybe a week) to get into the revisions she'd suggested because previous rejections had soured me on the book. I forced myself to revise just two hours a day, and the doubts receded again. Now it's on submission, and who knows? I'm feeling good now, but rejections could send the pendulum swinging back.

Sometimes sheer overfamiliarity with your own book can make you hate it for a while. I've heard this from people who were at the copyedit stage with a publisher and reading their book for the nth time.

For that reason, I never reread my work until I'm ready to revise it. When you're at that stage, you can change all those things you want to change. And hopefully you'll have a deadline from an agent or editor to spur you along. And validation that makes you realize you don't need to change everything.

Maybe while you're on submission (thinking about all those editors reading your book, but feeling powerless to revise it) is the worst time to reread it. I would trust your agent and your beta readers and focus on your WIP.

You have a book that attracted the service of an agent and is on submission. It's a product now, looking for a buyer.

That puts you waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of most people here, including me. Me permanently.

Now go write something else.

caw

I feel like that all the time. I kind of assumed all writers do, right? Right?!?!

For me, I tend to like my writing a lot (I'll end up getting accidentally sucked in to reading a scene I just wanted to skim for a piece of info), but I hate my overall plot/structure. Makes me doubt that anyone will ever want to buy my book. Especially when I think about the sheer volume of queries out there. There is an agent I follow on twitter who is still pretty new and building a list and he was tweeting about queries and had 1 partial request out of 50 queries! It's an ocean out there, and even if my drop is any good, which I doubt it is...well, that's how it goes. The perils of a writing career!

The worst thing a writer can do is re-read anything that's out on submission. Nothing good can come of it. If you really are monogamous with your books, then don't cheat on your current flame by spending a night with the old one.

I know the feeling.
My book comes out tomorrow, and still I have to snap out of my doubts.
I second advice given above that says working on other projects is definitely the best cure. (I'm currently in love with working on my almost-complete-wip.)

I think what matters right now is that other people are interested in your old manuscript. Your writing will evolve over time and your books should improve with experience. If I had to choose, I think I would rather win as a green author who can mature than start out near perfect and slip downhill with each new published work.

There's always a bright side. There's always something to learn. Just be glad you have an open mind and don't allow yourself to be snagged by the anchors of the past.