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| Tips & Advice Share your tips, tricks and advice. |
01-06-2006, 03:27 PM
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#1
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Scribe
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: UK
Gender: Female
Posts: 75
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Knowing when a piece is finished?
How do you decide that a piece is finished? I've been working on the same story for months, I just keep finding things wrong with it. I'm afraid I will over do it...any ideas?
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~…to know that what you are doing is hurting you, maybe killing you, and to be afraid of the fact -- but to cling to the idea that this will save you, it will, in the end, make things okay. – Wasted by Marya Hornbacher ~
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01-06-2006, 04:41 PM
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#2
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Scribe
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: VT
Gender: Female
Posts: 83
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I understand how you feel. I have been working on a novel since 2001 and it's almost 500 pages, yet I can't seem to finish it. There are a few revisions I want to make and then I'm done. It will never be finished otherwise. It is hard to know when a piece is finished. If you start with a basic story line and you find you've covered it from start to finish then I'd say your story is done. One thing you have to remember, and it's something a fellow writer once told me, is that "You are your own worse critic." If you're still not sure if the story is done, have someone else read it. If there are still some things you would like to change write them down and wait until after that person has finished reading your story. Then address your concerns and see what they think about the changes you are looking to make. If they think your story is fine then I would say you are finished. If they have questions or concerns of their own, then, yes, you still have a little work to do. This is how I do it and it works for me. It may not work this way for you but I hope, in some way, I was able to help you. 
CaliWave81
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"Believe...dream...will...and put it in the hands of God." - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale 
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01-06-2006, 05:31 PM
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#3
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: South-east UK
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,887
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Put it aside for 3 months. Don't look at it, or even think about it. Write something else, or go fishing, skydiving, read a book, whatever.
3 months gives you the distance you need to see the book with fresh eyes.
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01-06-2006, 05:53 PM
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#4
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Prolific Writer
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Gender: Male
Posts: 476
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You should be happy! The fact that you can keep the creativity flowing on one project for so long is a godsend! I can NEVER finish a feature length story. Be happy that you've got so far and just round it off with a nice happy happy smiley ending.
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01-06-2006, 06:46 PM
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#5
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Richmond, VA
Gender: Male
Posts: 17
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Let other people read it and see what they say? Maybe you could take it to a professional editor...
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