Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Knowing When to Stop

I’m a perfectionist. I know that many writers will fall into that camp by nature, but I can only speak for myself. I constantly criticize my own work, looking at it over and over to see what more I can squeeze out of it to make it better.

I’ve really been experiencing this with my Dawnbringer series. I planned to have it ready for submission to agents by the beginning of this year, yet here I am working through one more edit. I’ve added a new set of characters, been through three edits, and listened to a series of “alpha readers” and made some adjustments based on their feedback. I’m now completely rewriting one of the story arcs, and trying desperately to finish one last round of proofreading.

In short, I’m calling an end to the madness! You must know when your work is good enough, and for now, I’ve reached that point. I’m completing this last batch of edits, and then the project is going out to a set of agents for consideration. I could dwell at this stage forever, given my perfectionist tendencies. I simply must set my foot down, take a chance, and send it out.


I may forever wonder if I misspelled a word somewhere in the text I submit, but it has no chance sitting on my desk. Wish me luck; before March is out, I will begin the submissions process!

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