Whether we want to sell a million copies, or write the best book on our topic the world has seen, our desire to get it just right can bring us to a halt.
A goal to write our best should be the aim of every writer, but at some point you need to press print, write a cover letter, stick the piece in an envelope and mail it out. A time comes when your baby must be shared with those you hope will care for it: agents, editors, and readers.
Any writer knows you can tinker with a piece of writing – no matter how big or small – ad infinitum. How do we avoid this trap? Set a due date, as I spoke about here, or on a big project a series of them.
Fourteen years of magazine due dates means I’ve learned to make a piece of writing as good as I can get it – in the time available – and then let it go. Until now, this logic hasn’t applied to my memoir. The case I’ve made to myself: “I’ll only send it out when it’s as good as it can be”. The reality: I’m afraid of the the fallout.
But that’s another article, for another time.
