How do you know when you are done writing?

[DAD68]

I have seen several people say that writing is not just writing.
It involves going back and throwing out some stuff then rewriting other stuff.

If that were true, when are you ever finished and how do you know when you're finished? It seems like that's going over the 1st page for eternity!
I find it amazing that people even finish writing ANY book based on that concept.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

You'd never be done if you didnt simply stop.

 

[sr71plt]

I know it's finished (for my part of the process at least) when I've proofed the publisher's blue lines--or, if they aren't going to send those to me, at the point I've sent the reviewed edit back to them.

 

[LadyKiki]

I have seen several people say that writing is not just writing.
It involves going back and throwing out some stuff then rewriting other stuff.

If that were true, when are you ever finished and how do you know when you're finished? It seems like that's going over the 1st page for eternity!
I find it amazing that people even finish writing ANY book based on that concept.

When Jackson Pollock was asked "How do you know when you're finished?” he replied “How do you know when you're finished making love?"

I embrace the editing process, but definitely do know when I'm finished.

 

[Recidiva]

When I'm no longer fascinated by the character or plot points and my eyes slide off the piece. When I reach that Teflon moment when nothing else is sticking in my brain.

 

[jomar]

Whatever triggers, and it can be different for folks as shown here, sometimes you do just have to say 'done' (though I want a word with LadyKiki on the subject).

I have no doubt outstanding authors reread stuff and cringe. So, to some extent you just have to trust the process of getting better with each effort.

 

[DeeZire]

I'm done when I can read through the piece without stopping to fix something. In this context, you reach a point of compromise where, even though you know it could be better, you realize your energy could best be spent working on something new rather than beating your current dead horse into the ground.

 

[Boxlicker101]

The first draft is done when the characters have all climaxed for the last time. The editing is done when I look the story over and don't see anything I want to change.

 

[MagicaPractica]

I'm done when I can read through the piece without stopping to fix something. In this context, you reach a point of compromise where, even though you know it could be better, you realize your energy could best be spent working on something new rather than beating your current dead horse into the ground.

I like DeeZire's definition.

Sometimes I've let things go too soon, and sometimes I've continued to make changes that weren't necessarily better.

It often gets down to... I can't see something to change to make it better. Then I either need to put it away for a month and then do another edit, give it to an editor for reading, or simply put it out there.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Yep, and then you read it 4 weeks later and scream OMG!!!!

 

[Weird Harold]

I have seen several people say that writing is not just writing.
It involves going back and throwing out some stuff then rewriting other stuff.

If that were true, when are you ever finished and how do you know when you're finished?

For me if it takes longer to find more errors than it does to correct them, then I'm done.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I'm done when I can read through the piece without stopping to fix something. In this context, you reach a point of compromise where, even though you know it could be better, you realize your energy could best be spent working on something new rather than beating your current dead horse into the ground.

Well put, that woman.

 

[DeeZire]

Well put, that woman.

Woman? What woman?

I would add the put-it-away-for-a-month caveat, although for me, three days is the equivalent of a month. In the last 12 months, I've gotten eight or ten years older. It's so weird...

 

[sr71plt]

I like DeeZire's definition.

Sometimes I've let things go too soon, and sometimes I've continued to make changes that weren't necessarily better.

It often gets down to... I can't see something to change to make it better. Then I either need to put it away for a month and then do another edit, give it to an editor for reading, or simply put it out there.

I can understand that this might work for someone--but if I worked one of mine over that much, it would be dead and stilted.

 

[TxRad]

How do you know when you are done writing?

A little sign pops up that says, "The End"

 

[oggbashan]

In one sense you can never finish a particular piece of writing.

You can publish it, if only on Literotica, and then see the errors you missed before.

You can develop as an author, then go back and read your earlier work and think "Did I write that?" and consider editing it to fit your current abilities. That process can continue over and over again until death stops you.

I prefer not to revisit my earlier work but let it stand as a reminder, if only to myself, that I have improved or developed. After a few years I have difficulty remembering how and why I wrote a particular story.

Some famous literary figures constantly revised all their work and only death stopped them from "just one more edit".

Og

 

[dr_mabeuse]

You really should let a story sit for three weeks and then look at it with fresh eyes, but I don't know anyone who has that kind of patience at Literotica.

I can't ever read a piece of mine without revising it, so nothing of mine is ever really finished. I know I've hit the point of diminishing returns, though, when I find myself making changes that change it back to the way I already had it. At that point it's really time to quit.

 

[shereads]

Typically, it's when the CEO holds the second of three "employee morale" meetings.

 

[sr71plt]

Typically, it's when the CEO holds the second of three "employee morale" meetings.

Cute. I liked that.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

DOC

Artur Rubenstein said it best. IF I SKIP A DAY OF PRACTICE, I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. IF I SKIP 2 DAYS OF PRACTICE, THE COMPETITION NOTICES THE DIFFERENCE.

Maybe we should aim at concealing the flaws from the competition, and not try to impress ourselves so much.

 

[sr71plt]

DOC

Artur Rubenstein said it best. IF I SKIP A DAY OF PRACTICE, I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. IF I SKIP 2 DAYS OF PRACTICE, THE COMPETITION NOTICES THE DIFFERENCE.

Maybe we should aim at concealing the flaws from the competition, and not try to impress ourselves so much.

Naw. I can go do something else for a week and come back in a week refreshed and even more good to go. And I don't "practice" anymore. Everything I write is intended for display.

I just love these little "truisms" that sound so good but that don't cover real life.

 

[TE999]

I have my M$ Worst grammar, punctuation, tense and sentence structure editor on the 'English Schoolmaster With A Cane' setting and I have the ending in my mind...type...type...type...viola...the story, she is done.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Naw. I can go do something else for a week and come back in a week refreshed and even more good to go. And I don't "practice" anymore. Everything I write is intended for display.

I just love these little "truisms" that sound so good but that don't cover real life.

THATS BECAUSE YOURE A SPECIAL KINDA GUY.

 

[sr71plt]

THATS BECAUSE YOURE A SPECIAL KINDA GUY.

Oh, I don't think so in that context. I just think too many folks think they have "the answer."

 

[Liar]

Deadline or boredom.