Liking It

Sorry if I’ve asked this before, but how do you know when something you’re writing is actually good?

Let’s start with the opposite: if I don’t like it when I’m in the middle of writing it, then I know other people won’t like it, either. I’ve been 15k words down a particular branch in a story when I realize I don’t like how it’s going. It could be that I’ve written myself into a corner where the only way out of the situation will be against what I want for the book, like an unbelievable escape or a resolution that changes a character in a fundamental way I didn’t intend. In those cases I saw off the branch and start a new one.

I asked myself the question at the top of this post yesterday. The reason being that I’m really enjoying Next Time as I edit it. I’ve found myself caught up in the story and have been looking forward to this morning for my next editing session. Granted, I know the novel’s not perfect and there’s still plenty of work to do, but if I like it this much then I think that’s a positive sign.

Does that make it good, though? That’ll be up to the reader to determine. As with anything, I’m sure some will, and some won’t. For what it’s worth, I think it’s good.