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This month I'm insecure about perfection. Tell me if this sounds familiar: before you send your manuscript off to your critique partners, beta readers, an agent, or an editor, you read and re-read it, knowing it's still not perfect.
Super Supportive Hubby recently teased me about this. He knows I'll never reach that point when I feel my books are good enough...perfect.
In my head, I know perfection isn't possible. But that doesn't keep me from striving for it. Especially now that I've decided to self publish. The good and the bad of the book will reflect directly on me. Oh, the pressure!
Super Supportive Hubby recently said, "At some point, you have to let this one go and move on to the next book." Dang. For a non-writer, he sure gives great writing advice.
Still, in my effort to make my books the best they can be, I continue to learn. I'm reading Writing the Breakout Novel, and will soon read The Fire in Fiction, both by Donald Maass. There's so much I don't know, and I soak up each bit of wisdom.
Readers deserve the very best we can give them--quality books at a fair price. I've never expected perfection from my favorite authors (although some of them came super close), but I do expect quality.
As writers, we can learn and grow and dig deeper. We can read and study and try new things. We can proofread our work, make major plot changes, or tweak sentence structure and grammar. In the end, we must take Super Supportive Hubby's advice and let this one go.
We can't deliver perfection, but we can deliver quality.
Check out these cool quotes about perfection:
Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing. -- Harriet Braiker
A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault. -- John Henry Newman
To escape criticism - do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. -- Elbert Hubbard
Do you battle with perfectionism when it comes to your writing? Do you struggle with letting your manuscript go? How do you ensure quality for your readers? Please share!