I have a dilemma!
Watch my video below, or read the transcript, and let me know in the comments what you would do in my situation.
Hello my lovely writers!
I want to share something with you I think everybody will go through at some stage, and I’m hoping this is just a rite of passage for me.
I’ve got my new book coming out later this year and I’ve been sending it out to early readers for feedback. This is a new experience for me but I also thought it was a valuable one to share with anybody who is either in this situation or who is likely to be in the future.
The feedback is mixed. On the whole, people are enjoying it. It’s had some high ratings but some feedback has come in telling me there’s quite a big problem with it and, if I really want this book to do well, I’ve got to fix that problem.
I have a dilemma
So, what do I do? I have a dilemma. I’m feeling rubbish and sad about it. I’ve worked hard on this book for the last two to two and a half years, and I genuinely believe this is the best story I’ve written to date. I’m very, very proud of it, I’ve put a lot of work in and yes, I’m proud of it, but at the same time, it’s clear there are some issues.
What I could do is say, ‘Okay, let’s leave it there. I’ve worked hard on this, just put it out, just publish the book quietly, put it out into the world and don’t make a song and dance about it. Draw a line under it, learn from it, then move on and continue with the next story.’
I’m reluctant to do that because I have worked so hard on it. The other alternative is to take a deep breath, have a little mope, maybe have a little cry about it and feel sorry for myself for a day. I could do that and then get back to the work of being a writer and problem-solving and troubleshooting this.
I could let it just collapse me and think, oh my gosh, why am I even trying? This is so hard, why am I even bothering? No one’s paying me to do this, I’m doing it because I want to.
So, what do I do here?
I do want this to be a book people love. I do want to get good reviews. I do want people to enjoy it. So I have a dilemma and I’ve got to decide. Am I going to dig deep, do the work, step back into it, revise it and see where I can fix the holes that are there and move on and make this a better book and a better story? It’s a tough decision and I’m sure either you’ve been there or you will get there and you’ll have to make this decision for yourself as well one day.
What would you do?
With every story I write, I feel confident I’m getting better and better. I could just draw the line under it and say, ‘Okay, the next story’s going to be better than this one,’ or I come back and work on it.
What would you do? If this was you and you were getting some feedback and it wasn’t quite where you wanted this book to be but you’re so close to putting it out in the world and publishing it, would you decide, ‘I’m going to draw a line under it and move on,’ or would you say, ‘No, I’m going to go back and revise this and do the difficult job of getting back into the weeds with this story and do another round of revisions.’?
What would you do? I don’t know what to do. The easy option feels like it would be to just put it behind me and move on and the difficult decision is to get back into the weeds.
So, I’m curious. Share with me, what would you do? Put in the comments what you would do if it was you. You’d spent all this time on it. Can you give it another six to twelve months or would you just want to say, ‘Let’s move on’?
I’ll let you know what I decide.
Emma xx
Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi is a Certified Author Accelerator Book Coach and bestselling author who helps writers let go of perfectionism, self-doubt and writer's block through her signature programme, Unlock Your Creative Block.
She is the host of the YouTube Channel, Emma Dhesi, where she interviews debut and experienced authors alike.
Through her 1:1 coaching programme, Emma helps new authors start and finish their first novel.
Emma provides personal written feedback on their pages and guides them through the emotional rollercoaster that is writing a novel!
