When is my book finished?
It is hard to know when to stop research, editing and rewriting, especially if you are selfpublishing. As a guide, you are not finished: …when you have completed your first draft. … when you are sick of reading your manuscript over and over again. … unless you have had it read by someone who doesn’t care about you personally, e.g. a professional proofreader or editor. However, avoid perfectionism or you will never be finished. I could have carried on writing my book for a very long time, but I had a target date by which I wanted to hold my book in my hand. Therefore, it needed to be at the printers by a certain day, so I worked backwards from there. You cannot write everything, and there has to be an end point or you will never have a book, just a lot of “writing.” A finished product is always better than lots of work in progress. Remember Parkinson’s Law: “a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion.” Set your date to complete the book, aim for that and try to get it done in time. STOP and check that you really really need to carry on with the editing process. Do you need more research? Having a blog also helps as you can continue to post additional information there as it comes to light. This may help for the second edition!
“Begin at the beginning and go on „til you come to the end then stop.”
Lewis Carroll, author of “Alice in Wonderland”
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