tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347002624328577997.post875240079617701794..comments2023-10-29T04:39:08.157-07:00Comments on Creative Arts Anonymous: Knowing When It's FinishedDr. Cheryl Carvajalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323455180953109460noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347002624328577997.post-65768549886631856312009-07-06T06:47:06.710-07:002009-07-06T06:47:06.710-07:00Stephanie, your habit of sharing your stuff with t...Stephanie, your habit of sharing your stuff with the hubby is exactly what you should be doing. So many writers fear sharing their stuff with anyone else, but having a good, perceptive, creative critic can be the best indicator of when something is done.<br /><br />And neenee, you should ALWAYS go with your gut on your own writing. Readers can help give you feedback, but in the end it is you who have to be happy with what you create. I know, for instance, that I would be miserable if I wrote what I considered to be schlock, but it was published and loved by millions of fans. I would still feel like a sell-out. I would still want to write to satisfy myself above all. <br /><br />OMG, flit--the due date! Yes, and you are still in school, so you will be victim to this for years to come. It took me a decade to overcome that pattern myself... or perhaps I still haven't. It's hard to get something done when there is no outside deadline... perhaps that is why I make deadlines of my own, whether daily, weekly, or monthly (or seasonally, as with my summer to-do list).Dr. Cheryl Carvajalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323455180953109460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347002624328577997.post-48831098602242051392009-07-04T19:51:26.338-07:002009-07-04T19:51:26.338-07:00I have gotten to be horrible about not getting thi...I have gotten to be horrible about not getting things done until they're due - so it's done when I run out of time to futz any more. <br /><br />the problem, of course, is that submissions to publishers don't have due dates - so nothing is ever done to send out.flithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06287047761151044124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347002624328577997.post-79308008388816130212009-07-02T14:07:37.151-07:002009-07-02T14:07:37.151-07:00I have never written anything on level as you, Sha...I have never written anything on level as you, Shakespeare, but when I no longer have anything more to add to the subject, my writing is complete. Any comments or suggestions about the work I tend to take as a matter of style and perhaps that person's vision of where my paper should go. I don't necessarily agree with the reader, nor will I make the changes. Anyway, that is my opinion about knowing when something, particularly a paper, is complete.neeneenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347002624328577997.post-14942505169378114392009-07-01T10:20:06.691-07:002009-07-01T10:20:06.691-07:00I don't know that I *know* when things are com...I don't know that I *know* when things are completed - I've gone back to revise "final" drafts before. However, I usually figure I'm done when the draft passes two tests:<br /><br />(a) I read it to my husband and we find only minor tweaks as to significant rewrites.<br />(b) I've had at least a handful of trusted readers read it without calling for more than a few tweaks (as opposed to significant rewrites). <br /><br />(Note that sometimes a reader has a potential real rewrite suggestion, but it doesn't work for me. Sometimes the tweaks suggested trigger a significant rewrite path for me even if it wasn't called for).<br /><br />In the end, it's when I feel like the work says what I want it to say.Stephanie Barrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17772217449161603561noreply@blogger.com