Back in January I wrote a post reflecting on how one can know when a piece of writing is finished. Having completed four or five further assignments – and my EMA project – since then, and multiple competition or ezine submissions, you would imagine I would be more confident in answering this question.
I am not.
I do have a better idea of what a finished piece of work looks like; I have become more adept at recognising when the plot is complete and doesn’t contain holes; when character development is sufficient and creates interest for the reader. I have become more confident about proof reading and editing – definitely a challenge with longer pieces. That task of ensuring that exciting words and phrases are not repeated is harder to complete with a novella than it is with a piece of flash fiction. I have developed my ability to write a story that keeps the pace up, and has tight language and phrasing to help with this.
And yet – and yet I still want to do one more read through, one more check. Will the story read differently this time? Surely the final read through should be like reading the story for what it is, without the ‘editing specs’ on? It is so hard to do that with your own work – to see it as though for the first time, and read it naturally. I am not going to click that button today.
It is cooked, but now needs some time to rest before it can be enjoyed.
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