Journal and publisher jitters
27 March 2009
I really need to send off this article so I can clear it out of my head and either begin another or finish my book. But as always, I’m much more confident in the process than in the result. I’ll spend weeks, unless I stop myself, editing and proofreading and editing and proofreading and editing and proof…(getting boring for you, too?)
Why is it I am willing to do 99% of the work, really throwing myself into something and doing my best, but when it comes to asking for approval and money, I stop short, more willing to keep a backlog of solid work than finishing by asking for recognition/publication?
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2 Comments
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Because what you’ve written is part of you.
And it’s much easier to edit and dream then to finish and let go.
I fear that you have inherited some of this from me. I am sorry.
I find that when I “finish” something (meaning that I am willing to either let it go or just stop fussing with it) that I
#1 no longer have it to look forward to fussing with. That leads to the obvious question: do I really look forward to fussing with it or do I look forward to (with trepidation)
#2 coming to the realization that once it is “done” that I am no longer capable of improving on it. I know that I can do better/make it better. We seek perfection. But now I have declared it done. Someone out there (be they customer or publisher or other recipient) will either not like it or at the very least see the flaw in it that I know is there (or maybe one I didn’t)
There is a reason that everything “finished” is signed:
Hayoka made.