Author Satisfaction

[Octavian]

At what point, if ever, is one satisfied with one's own story.
When does one stop looking at it and say enough's enough.
Every time I look at mine, I find something that could be better.
Is writing another story the only way out of this dilemma? Or do you then end up with the same problem, only now it is in duplicate?
I started my story 2 and 1/2 years ago and I'm still making minor changes!

 

[KillerMuffin]

Nearly everything I post at Lit is a first draft with barely a spell check. I'm horrifically lazy about things.

For things that actually earn me cash, I do put some real effort into it. I write the full thing without editing. Then I sit on it for a few weeks. Then I re-read the whole thing while making changes. If I think that it's good enough, then I'll farm it out to publishers. If I think it needs another edit, I'll sit on it for a little bit and then do the editing thing again.

Every piece of writing can be improved. Why? "Good" is subjective and what's perfect to one person needs work to another. There are some conventions a writer can follow that make things better overall, but when it comes right down to it, the prose is either "good" or it isn't. "Good" can always be improved on a reader to reader basis, but it can't really be continuingly improved overall. If it isn't good, it's always up for overall improvement.

These are my writing rules and I stick to them religiously:

1. Do not edit until the story is finished.
2. If the story stalls and will not go any further, then let it rest for a while. Re-read it without editing and try to restart.
3. If the story still stalls, then there is something wrong that requires editing. Edit for plot structure, transitions, and "big ticket" things only. Try to restart.
4. If the story still stalls, then do a rewrite style edit.
5. If it still won't work, then cannibalize it.

When you edit yourself, you have to be careful not to second-guess yourself. You should have specific editing goals in mind and decisions on editing should be made with some confidence. If you dither about a change, then don't make it at that time.

When writing, be compassionate. When editing, be ruthless.

I only continually edit a piece if I can't find a market for it and I really, really want to sell it. Why? I don't feel that I can progress as a writer if I keep trying to make the same road perfect rather than create new ones.

 

[Weird Harold]

At what point, if ever, is one satisfied with one's own story.
When does one stop looking at it and say enough's enough.
...
I started my story 2 and 1/2 years ago and I'm still making minor changes!

If you make two editing passes through the complete story and only make minor changes, (other than corecting typos) then you're done.

Your story will never be "perfect" and as soon as you se it published (or posted) you're going to see at least three embarrassing flaws -- or so they'll appear to you.

If you keep changing the same section of the story over and over, then you've either got a serious flaw inthe story that minor changes can't fix, or you're just tinkering to avoid letting your baby fly free.

 

[ronde]

To paraphrase an old addage about engineering:

There comes a time in every work when one shoots the editor and goes for publication.

That time for me is after I've run the spell checker, read over the story twice and then once again after a couple of days. I find that if I try to make a final edit too soon after I finish writing, I'll read over errors because I know what I meant to type. After a couple of days, I actually have to read, and the mistakes pop up.

I do make small edits as I write, though these relate to making times, clothing, and other small details jive throughout the story. I may change a name, for example, and then have to go back and correct earlier occurences. I don't really consider these edits.

 

[Monazwx]

There are times when a writer feels that a story will never be finished, but I'm wondering if this is due to fear of finishing this particular story. Some time or another, you have to let this story go and find out what other people think of it (that is if you decide on posting it). If you're not satisfied though, far be it from me to tell you to stop.

Keep this in mind, if you don't end this story, when are you going to unleash all those other great stories inside you?

 

[Coolville]

I find that the magic moment when I say "It's done..." is something more of a feeling than a critical evaluation.

I could keep changing things from now until forever, but I've learned to listen to that little voice in my head.

I liken it to taking a photo. You can keep focusing, move backwards and forwards and from side to side, waiting for the right light, the right expression. But there is always a fraction of a second when you press the button. Why just then? Because it looked and felt right.

It's the same with writing. When it looks right, press the button.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

At what point, if ever, is one satisfied with one's own story.
When does one stop looking at it and say enough's enough.
Every time I look at mine, I find something that could be better.
Is writing another story the only way out of this dilemma? Or do you then end up with the same problem, only now it is in duplicate?
I started my story 2 and 1/2 years ago and I'm still making minor changes!

Editing mistakes is one thing, but polishing is another. Writing is just like painting - ddon't overdo it, or you'll destroy it.

 

[Whispersecret]

I'm a perfectionist. I admit it. I revise even as I'm writing. This is why I'm such a slow writer.

After I type, "The End," then I revise even more. I nix extraneous words, sentences, and even (eek!) paragraphs. I add stuff I think will enhance the piece. I rearrange words, phrases, sentences endlessly.

Finally, after I go over it all with a fine toothed comb and can't find anything but maybe a couple of nitpicky things, I decide I'm done. Sometimes this takes upwards of six revisions. But I can't help it. It's in my bones to make it as perfect as I am able.

Perhaps you should give yourself a limit. Read it one last time. If you change less than five minor things, consider it done.

 

[Octavian]

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my thread.

I think that the perfectionist theory is the most likely reason why I keep changing it. I know it is a good story. However, when I started it, I had no previous writing experience. I continued to develop the story over the next 30 months and during that time my writing improved (or so I delude myself!) The downside was a degree of dissatisfaction with what had been written earlier and an overwhelming urge to rewrite it in order to bring it up to the standard of the later text. And this happened every three months or so!

It is already posted but a revised version, with shorter paragraphs and some minor revisions, is imminent. And after that there will be no more tinkering; to quote ‘Weird Harold’ my baby will fly free.

Maybe I won’t have this problem next time when, (or if), I get round to another story.