Secret of a Writer

I thought about leaving this page blank. Once you, the reader, had scrolled to the bottom of the page, I would've had a statement like, "Art is never finished, only abandoned" or "there are no secrets because the internet explains them all."

There is really only one secret writers know and this secret has a way of haunting even the most confident. And that my friend is, "Any creative piece exists in a state of uncertainty and is never finished."



Now, the reader has a fantastical scenario all built up within themselves. They imagine a writer passionately creating exactly what our mind's eye tells us to put on the page and magically conjuring up a masterful piece of work as we breathe life into the most mundane. However, for the person creating their piece, it never really feels finished.

"Writing is work--there's no secret. - Sinclair Lewis

It's always a challenge to keep oneself from tinkering, changing and editing. We could easily do this until we keel over from exhaustion. Hollywood does this all the time, by having alternate endings for movies, just in case they change their mind or the audience changes it for them. I've even known songwriters to have a song that hits the top of the charts, although, when they listen all they can hear is the mistakes they didn't catch before.


So where does it end?
There are times when we simply have to walk away. A writer can tweak anything for as long as humanly possible, but when do you feel finished? If you are a perfectionist, when is it considered perfect? And if a writer has been honing their craft for more than a decade or two, how does that person not want to go back and call a do-over on some of the first works they ever wrote?

We have to get past this obsession. Aim for completion rather than perfection. Release it when you're ready and know it's as complete as it can be. Even after release, try and stay away from it unless there is a major issue to rectify.

As a writer, hold on to your sanity and take it all in with a grain of salt, because in the end, the worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.





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SK Thomas is a writer, author, book reviewer and the curious creative complex brain behind this blog.

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