Simon Whaley’s Business of Writing: July 2024 - Pursuing Perfection
Welcome to my July 2024 newsletter, where, here in the UK, we’re still waiting for a proper summer (by which I mean more than two days of sunshine in a row 😁). I did snap some blue sky the other day, which the BBC News website picked up on!
“Can I just add another paragraph? It’s really important.”
“Okay, but this has to be the last one.”
“It is. I promise!”
It wasn’t. Two weeks later, when I reviewed this author’s manuscript for the fifth time, he sent yet another email.
”Simon, I know I said the last time was the last time, but I just need another section added to the end of Chapter Six. This is the last amendment. I promise. Then everything will be perfect.”
Ah! And there it was. Finally, the author had said it out loud. (Well, in writing, anyway.) I knew after the second ‘final’ edit that this author had an issue with perfection.
When it comes to the business of writing, I understand the need for perfection. Particularly, with big projects like books.
But, there is no such thing as perfection in publishing (in any kind of publishing, whether it’s books, short stories, articles, or online pieces). If you strive to make your writing perfect, you’ll never be published because you won’t send anything off.
For many of the authors I work with, the finality of signing off a manuscript as ready for the interior design stage is frightening. This is the stage in the publishing process when publication is one step away from finality. Publication means your manuscript is set in stone. In some countries, a copy of every published book is lodged with a National Library or archive. Which means a published book becomes a record in history forever. FOREVER! 😱
So, I understand the desire to get it right.
BUT …
As I said earlier, the pursuit of perfection runs the risk of never seeing your work published. Because there will always be something that can be improved.
Looking back at all of my published work (books, short stories, and articles), I often cringe. I wish I’d written some sections differently. To me, none is perfect. But they are published.
Publication isn’t a destination, but a journey. Every one of my published works tells the story of my writing journey. The material I publish now is far better than those first published pieces and better than those published a few years ago.
And even though I know they’re not perfect, many of the readers don’t. Looking back at some of my previously published works, there are thoughts and ideas I wish I’d included. I know they’re not there, which makes them feel imperfect to me. But the readers don’t. The readers don’t know what’s missing.
The world turns, which means everything changes over time, anyway, so even if you write the perfect piece, it may only be perfect for now. Come next week, depending upon what you’re writing, it could be out of date. So, what does striving for perfection really achieve?
Publishing imperfect material allows us to grow. Publishing imperfect material allows us to write more. After all, what better way to give readers the information we meant to put in the last article than to write another article offering it to them?
The joy of self-publishing means we can update our work. If we realise we meant to add another short paragraph to a chapter, we can slip it in, and upload it to the self-publishing platforms. If we write articles on online platforms like Medium.com, we can go in and make the changes we want to make.
In the meantime, that imperfect writing is being read and, hopefully, generating some money, too.
Some book subjects are not evergreen, which means they will go out of date. That gives us an opportunity to update the book, and include the information we wished we’d included the first time around (assuming it is still relevant).
When I first published The Complete Article Writer it spoke of posting features to editors and including stamped addressed envelopes for the return if unsuitable. (Gosh, with the price of postage these days, I couldn’t afford to be a writer if that was the only way to submit material!)
When I revised the book a few years ago, I updated that section. As I flick through the pages today, I can see some sections are a little dated again. If the updated version wasn’t perfect, then it certainly isn’t now. But in the meantime, I’ve sold hundreds of copies, and that writing has generated an income for me. Updating it, making it less imperfect again, will extend its life further.
Yes, we should always strive to make our writing the best that it can be, but not at the expense of perfection.
This is where the Law of Diminishing Returns applies. There comes a point in all projects where the extra time and work spent on the project produces less benefit to the work as a whole. Those first and second edits can make vast improvements to our writing. Edits ninety-eight and ninety-nine, less so.
So if you keep titivating with your work, stop and ask yourself if you’re seeking perfection. Are you using perfection as a procrastination exercise? Do you really want to make it perfect, or are you fearful of having the courage to send something off, or to publish it?
In this business of writing, the only way to be a published writer is to acknowledge that there comes a point when you need to submit your work.
The Joys of Facebook
Do you remember last month I mentioned I’m currently doing Matthew J Holmes’ Meta Ads Mastery for Authors course, and that since buying the course, the material has been updated three times? Well, guess what? Facebook has changed things once more, so Matthew has had to update the course again!
(It’s another example of doing your research when looking for online courses, and look for those where the creators say they will update the course material when necessary.)
But what if Matthew had originally held back from publishing his course because he wanted it to be perfect? The way Facebook (sorry, Meta) keeps changing their systems, he’d never have launched his course!
But because he has, he’s earning from it, and he’s also got a cohort of students practising what he teaches and sharing their experiences. Everybody is learning from each other. And none of that would have happened had he held back to launch the perfect course.
Free Amazon Ads Course
If you have self-published any books on Amazon, then check out Dave Chesson’s free Amazon Ads course via his Kindlepreneur website. You can find more details here: https://kindlepreneur.com/free-amazon-ads-course/
If you’re interested in knowing the basics, this is a great place to start, and he’s just updated it. (are you spotting a trend here?) I’m going through it again, as a refresher.
Writing Magazine Webinars
If you’re thinking about self-publishing, but haven’t dipped your toe into the water yet, then you might be interested to know that Writing Magazine will be publishing a Self-Publishing Guide that looks at the basics and getting started. It may be available from sometime in October.
And it looks like I may be doing a series of webinars exploring this topic for them from November. Details have still to be finalised, but I’ll let you know what they are as soon as I can.
Travel Writing at the South Warwickshire Literary Festival - 21st September 2024
There are only a few places left on the travel writing workshop I’m leading for the South Warwickshire Literary Festival this September. For more details of this and the other workshops, check out https://www.southwarwickshireliteraryfestival.com/programme
Until next month, keeeeeeeeeep writing!
Best wishes,
Simon