Are you done yet?

Steven King famously said that he knows when he's finished writing a book when he gets to the end--he's known for being a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer. I'm not. I’m a plotter. I plot out my book in great detail before I ever begin writing.

When I do finally begin to actually write the book, I already know exactly what's going to happen, when, to whom, why, and how it will all turn out--I've even been known to write the ending first (I did that with my Children of Avalon series where after plotting out the first book. Before I even started writing the first book, I wrote the very last scene of the last book. Of course, that didn't stay the last scene, it ended up that I had some more wrapping up to do after that highly exciting scene, and I didn't use that scene exactly as I'd written it by the time I got there, but I had something down. I knew exactly how the entire series would end.

The thing is, I'm sure even Steven King has an idea of where his story is going as he writes. He knows generally where he's got to end up, so he knows when he's gotten there. He knows when he's reached the end of the book.

 But that's not actually the end of writing.

After you've written those beloved words, “The End”, you've got to read through the book, edit it. How do you know when you're done that part? Many (most?) writers could go on fixing things, changing a word here and there, forever.

But, naturally, you can't do that. You've got to stop sometime and proclaim your work done.

It helps to have a date by which you have said you'll be finished, then once you reach that date, assuming you're mostly on schedule (which, granted, you most likely won't be, but try to get close) you just say enough's enough.

It also helps if you've got readers lined up to read your work once you are finished. If there are people out there waiting for it,  you've got to deliver it within a reasonable amount of time. 

The idea is that no work of fiction is ever going to be completely, absolutely perfect. You make it as good as you can and then hand it off to a professional editor who will make it better. Once you’ve gone through making the changes suggested by her/him, then you have to say that’s it, it’s done. If you don’t, if you keep tinkering with it, you’ll never finish!

So, my recommendation for writers who are writing their first book and worried about when it will be perfect, when it will be finished, I say, don’t try to make it perfect because you can’t. There will always be things to change. Just get it so that you’re happy with it and then move on.

I know that’s easier said than done, but be strong. Let it go. Because there is nothing more satisfying than typing “The End” and meaning it.

http://meredithbond.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/The-End.mp4