In an effort to get into a writing rhythm again, I want to start sharing weekly updates/questions/conversation starters for all my creative friends. I’ll start with this: can you *just tell* when it’s been a while since you’ve last written?

As a writer, it’s easy to feel the pressure to be “new,” to do something that’s never been done before, something that will set your story apart from the crowd. Something that will make it FRESH and marketable, a that story agents and publishers will all want to snap up before anyone else does. But as a reader, I find that I don’t often search for something that is purely “new….”

You’ve finished the latest draft of your novel. It’s looking good, and you’re itching to send it to your beta readers… but is it really ready?