Monday, June 13, 2011

How Do You Define "Done?"

A well-respected agent to whom I am hoping to send my novel (at some point anyway) noted on the submissions page of his web site that he accepts queries from aspiring writers  - but in that sentence he also asked that nothing be sent to him until it is complete; until the writer of the full-length novel "would not change one single word."
Quite a tall order, isn't it?
Can we ever really get to that point?  Be so completely and absolutely satisfied with a sizable work that we truly believe we cannot improve upon it?
I don't know.  I learn something every day, a new experience, a different point of view, an unusual word - the world around us is complex and inviting and I have (almost) never reached the point of absolute satisfaction with bringing to life the experiences it allows me to have.  After I am "finished" and let the story rest, a read a few weeks or months later inevitably produces some changes. 
Of course there are always exceptions.  There is one short story I wrote - 1,500 words of perfection in my eyes. 
Yes, quite a tall order for 80,000 words.

How do you know when you are done?

2 comments:

  1. Let me know when you figure it out. I wrote an 80,000 word book in a month. I've been editing it for a year (it's about 99,000 words now), and I'm on edit #9. *sigh*

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  2. Sounds familiar :-) One can only hope (and keep writing)

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