FINISH IT

 

One of the hardest things to do when writing is deciding that you’ve done enough, and that whatever you have assembled on the page is ready for world scrutiny. Easier when there is a publishing contract with a deadline, as that will dictate when it is submitted to the editor, but when it’s your first bash and there is no deadline, it will never be finished enough.

I met someone many years ago, a long time before I became a writer, and I was told that he was writing a book, and had been for around ten years. At the time, I was impressed with his artistic zeal, his torture as he aimed for perfection. Now, not so much. He wasn’t a writer and never was going to be, and deep down he knew it. He wanted to write, but what he dreaded was being told he wasn’t good enough. For as long as penned away, aiming for perfection, he could tell himself that he was a genius waiting to be discovered.

 

Fool’s gold. The world is full of people like that. The writer who is forever finishing the first masterpiece, or the photographer who won't put on an exhibition, or the person who thinks they can play a guitar, because they can strum along to something, but never audition for a band.

Don't be that person. This is the blunt truth: you will get rejections. Even after you are published, you will be criticised. You will check your Amazon reviews under the guise of seeking constructive criticism, but in reality you are looking for the praise, and those one and two-star reviews will burn deep into your soul.

Don’t be the person I met all those years ago. You can, of course, remain the undiscovered genius, but the emphasis will always be on the word undiscovered, as opposed to genius. Be prepared to be told that you aren’t good enough, because it’s part of the journey to finding that one editor who thinks you are. Frederick Forsyth was rejected by 48 publishers.

There is one piece of advice in relation to finishing your story, and it is this: editors have egos, and career ambitions, and there isn’t an editor in the world who will say, “this book is so good that there isn’t a single thing I can do to improve it.”

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This is the analogy.

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There aren't many people who buy a house, move their stuff in, then leave it as it is until they move out. Nearly every house-buyer thinks, "this is a lovely house, so much potential, but I can make it better". The editor is the house-buyer, and they don't get judged on their editing, but on who they discover. Editors know what they are looking for, and they do not expect perfection. It is their job to make it perfect.

So, finish your story. Don’t be that person. If you want to be published, go to the next section.