It's the first Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means! It's time for another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group! Alex J. Cavanaugh is our host. His minions for this month are Beverly Stowe McClure, Megan Morgan, Viola Fury, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Angela Wooldridge, and Susan Gourley.
Be sure to visit the IWSG website! And don't forget that the 2016 IWSG Anthology Contest is underway! The deadline is November 1st.
The question for this month is: When do you know your story is ready?
This is a tricky question. One of the main things that used to hold me back was the feeling that the story is never done. How could I send my story out into the world when it's not absolutely perfect? The problem with that thought process is this: the story is never going to be perfect. You can edit and edit and edit endlessly. If only a bright neon sign could pop up and declare "It's finished!"
Since life isn't that simple, I ask myself a series of questions. Does the story achieve what I wanted? Do the characters stand out? Does everything make sense? Have I eliminated all of the grammatical and spelling errors that I can? If the answer to all of these questions is yes, I declare it done. I try not to worry so much about every single word choice beyond those first rounds of editing. If I let myself get wrapped up in that, the story would never see the light of day. As a writer, that would be a problem.
How do you decide a story is ready?
I decide pretty much the same way. Revising forever will kill a story.
ReplyDeleteI could use that neon sign as I tend to be a perfectionist.
ReplyDeleteEventually, you have to let it go. Send it out, and move on to another project.
ReplyDeleteMary at Play off the Page
It never will be perfect. It just has to be polished.
ReplyDeleteI guess there is a theme to this event I must have missed the memo. But I know I finished when I'm not adding any value except for fixing typos and formatting issues.
ReplyDeleteExcellent questions to ask yourself. I rely a lot on my critique partners. They've never steered me wrong yet! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat questions there. Thank you for sharing and have a super month of writing.
ReplyDeleteI like your first Q about whether the story achieves what you set out. I sometimes have trouble answering that, and it usually leads me back to the draft.
ReplyDeleteHere's my October IWSG post: Top 10 Ways to know if you're ready to share your writing
After I realize I can't do any more. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
I think there are two big mistakes that new writers make. Not sending the story out because it's not perfect or sending it out when it needs a lot or work.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little hung up on knowing when a story is ready or not. My last two that I queried I've since decided need major revisions so...apparently I stink in that dept! =)
ReplyDeleteThose are some good questions to ask when deciding if a story is finished.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! Nothing's perfect. Best we can do is "good enough right now!" And your criteria for deciding that is spot on.
ReplyDeleteIWSG October
Great points. Our stories will never be perfect, so we do the best we can. Sometimes it's hard for me to let go of them though. Thank goodness for great editors that polish them.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you. That is one of the reasons I don't strive for perfection. If the writer's aim is to write the perfect book, it will never get published.
ReplyDeleteAll the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Patricia
Perfectionism is tough! I think a lot of writers suffer from it. I do! But letting go has to happen at some point, even if only after burn out!
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to keep editing and editing. At some point, you have to stop and say, Enough. Perfection is never attainable.
ReplyDelete