When is it done?
Posted 27 Sep 2016
drafting editing
Recently I picked up the podcast The Story Grid as part of my subscription list (and promptly had to delete a dozen other podcasts because I have not the hours in the day required to keep up with them all). I went way back in their episode feed because it seemed beneficial to hear it complete and in order.
As a side note, I once played with the idea of chronicling my coaching sessions (more than I already do, in passing) for posterity and in case it might help others. The Story Grid does this far better than I could, and without diluting my editor's potential business, so I am happy to recommend that podcast to anyone who might be thinking about getting a developmental editor to help them with their story.
All this is to lead up to a reference to one episode where the question was raised:
How do I know when my book is done?
I just completed a re-read of my latest revised MS. I did this as active waiting in wake of the command from my editor that I should "not change anything in DropBox" while he reviews my latest MS. I printed out the same PDF I provided to him (2-up and double-sided, because I love trees), and grabbed a clipboard and pen (red felt tip at first but when I briefly misplaced that I found I prefer using my black uni-ball signo). Over the course of the next 6 days, I read all 422 pages, making small marks as I went along. But, more notably, I didn't see any major changes required.
The answer provided in the podcast as to when a MS is "done" is, naturally, "never." Which is not what a writer trying to complete a book is looking to hear. Certainly not this writer! But the point is valid. A book can always be improved by another read-through, another adjustment. Sentences can be rephrased until the stars collide and go dark. Craft never stops evolving. But eventually, if your goal is to share the work, you have to stop.
According to Shawn Coyne, the professional editor from The Story Grid, when you stop is a matter of economics, not craft. Stop when the changes you want to make do not improve the story for the reader. Don't edit until the experience of reading your story transports the reader to Nirvana. That's not what the reader wants, according to Coyne. The reader wants a good story.
Of course I am hedging my bets to see what my editor finds in the MS, but I am now at the point where I feel the return on investment (ROI) for making changes will reach its maximum potential with a line edit and proof read.
I don't think I'm objective enough to know if the story is good. I have been told my writing is good. That makes me a good writer (that rephrasing seems a key to owning what I write), if true. But I know the ending, I wrote the scenes. I don't know what a fresh read of my book will feel like, and that makes it difficult to judge.
I have some time, it looks like, before my editor will get feedback to me, so I'm going to take some further advice from the podcast and fill out Shawn Coyne's Foolscap Global Story Grid, which he claims will allow a writer to be their own developmental editor (at least in terms of investigating how the story works). I'm curious to see if the grid and my editor agree when we meet on the other side.
During my morning writing sessions, I have been working on new creative writing snippets (you'll see one on Thursday) and on my Phantom Traveler vignettes (intended for Patreon supporters). As my self-proclaimed deadline for completing this story (so I can move on to the sequel) is this coming Friday, anything I can do to determine the completeness of the MS is a tool worth my while and the distraction from creating new works. If I can map the grid outside of my morning writing, I will. It's actually not a complex questionnaire to fill out (it's at the link above), so possibly this won't break my stride with the secondary writing projects. Unless, of course, I uncover a major flaw or imbalance in my global plot, in which case I will be looking at Flotsam's outline again (while still not touching anything in DropBox).