Three edits ago I decided that
this latest edit of Spawn Of Kongomato would be the last.
I'd successfully annihilated all grammatical and
punctuation mistakes – although a few will slip through. I’ve never read a book
in my life without at least three. All plot holes are firmly sealed and all pointless words put up against the literary wall and shot - if you catch my drift.
Yet then I thought: if I could
just change that to this, and alter that bit slightly, and on and on until I did it again.
Now, three edits later, I think I’ve gone far enough even
though I know that if I just change a little part of chapter X and maybe
shorten chapter Y then...
When is enough, enough?
I’ve heard painters say that the hardest part of producing a
picture is knowing when to stop. I used to love an imported US programme on TV
featuring a man who painted the most marvellous pictures before us. His
work was astounding but I always felt that he should have stopped a lot earlier
than he did.
But that is the paradox. When should we stop? While I’m
moderately happy with it as it stands, I know that I’ll never be thrilled. That
doesn’t mean I’m publishing second best but simply that I know I can’t make it
any better.
Is that the same thing?
When you... good question.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I don't think it ever stops. Good blog post. I always think I've finally reached the end of editing and revising, yet when I check my work again, there's still more to do.
ReplyDeleteIf that painting show was The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, I agree with you - he should have stopped sooner quite often. But his work was always spectacular in the end, and I can't see a tree or a cloud without thinking of them as happy and little. :)
ReplyDeleteBut knowing when to stop is tricky. I thought I knew when to stop on The Lokana Chronicles, but then I tried querying and learned that I should have kept on going. I just hope that this rewrite will be the last for this project.
You hope, but deep down you know it won't be. I think I'm a perfectionist but my beloved just calls me a pedantic old git.
ReplyDeleteHi Roger great blog, if I would dare be give advice to you? then it would to be, be an old pedantic git like me and above all be lazy. be well Agman.
ReplyDeleteYou just cannot beat a beloved comment.
Thanks, I will. unfortunately pedantic is the least obscene (or perhaps truthful) thing she calls me.
ReplyDeleteEnough is enough - time to let your adoring public read the thing!!
ReplyDeleteI feel I must add one of these ;o) here – just so you know I’m joking
Hokey dokey. A third of the way through the last edit, then I'll begin the process of CreateSpace-ing it. Ths time I might use Kaliber.
ReplyDelete