Wednesday, March 6, 2013

That Moment When Your Work is "Finished"

This is my entry for the Insecure Writer's Group...

It's a scary thing to put your work out there, and the temptation is to delay it as long as you can. I've been at the point with my manuscripts where I keep looking for typos, tweaking and tweaking, adding lines in and taking lines out, just to put off calling it finished. No creative work is ever "finished" to the point where it can't improve, but there does come a point where you have to accept that it's as good as it's going to get. At that point, I have to force myself to put the manuscript down or close the document file, and prepare to send it out into the world. That first envelope I seal to mail off to publishers, that first email I click "send" to forward to a publisher, that button you click on Amazon.com to publish my ebook, is always a moment that makes me pause and think, "Did I do enough? Could it be better? Is it ready?"

How about you? Have you ever had that moment of uncertainty about whether your work is good enough? How did you handle it? Have you ever sent out work and later decide it wasn't ready, after all? Let me know in the comments.

And be sure to check out the other members of the Insecure Writers Group! 

14 comments:

  1. It's never as good as I want it to be. But when I hit that point where I'm changing things back to their original form, then I know I am done.

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  2. Hi Nigel, nice to meet you.

    Unfortunately, I feel my work is never done, it could always be better, and did I forget a comma? But, but I still manage to push those babies out of the next eventually.

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  3. I think we all go through that and it is just part of the process. Our work always gets better over time. Projects from years ago look so rough next to what I write now. It is amazing to see the improvement that happens over time. Good luck with your writing!

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    1. I agree about the roughness, Julie. I'm currently editing a novel I wrote twenty years ago which I've rewritten endlessly, and I'm amazed at how much work I still have to do to bring it to what I consider an acceptable level. My writing standards keep evolving, and my work is evolving with it.

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  4. I am not there yet with my own work! Just beginning, but I am reading pretty much the same feelings from so many this morning. Thank you for your interesting post.
    sandysanderellasmusings

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  5. I don't think there's any such thing as "done".

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  6. My problem was thinking it was ready and wanting to put it out there, then come to realize it wasn't ready. How many times did that happen with my first one? I don't even know. The first time I thought it was complete, it was only half done and I ended up writing a second half. Then I realized just how many set of eyes needed to take a look at it, and it was more than just the 5 I initially had.

    I wish I had your patience to wait it out. Not rushing to get to the the next step is something I continually work on.

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    1. It's not easy to be patient. Right now, I'm really forcing myself to slow down. I've been editing my novel TOONS, and if it was up to me, I would just dump the whole thing online. The only thing that's stopping me is reading the current unedited portions and cringing at the mistakes.

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  7. Nigel, I'm editing my 6th ms and I'm still flooded with uncertainly. No, it's not easy being flooded. Haha. Seriously, your reaction is totally normal. We wouldn't be writers unless we were this neurotic. My biggest fear is the next book won't measure up to the previous book. Silly, I know. We only grow as writers if we continue to love our craft. Yet, come to think of it. ... some of my favourite authors have disappointed me with some of their releases. Stuff to ponder, I suppose. Happy IWSG. Sorry I'm late.

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    1. That's a sobering thought, how many authors I've loved who have released books that I thought needed work. I suppose it's better to be too cautious than not cautious enough.

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