Can a story ever be perfect?

starrystorm

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Can it be? I'm doing draft after draft, and am always changing something. I'm constantly thinking. "This will never be perfect." Honestly, do you ever think to yourself that your story is perfect? Does it have to be perfect in the end? Is it possible for a writer to think one of their works is perfect?
 

Ari Meermans

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I haven't read one yet that was perfect. Seeking perfection is a never-ending cycle of tweak, tweak, tweak. Your goal—and what agents and publishers are looking for—is a good story, well written.
 

Tazlima

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When I was ten, my friend's teenage sister complained that she needed her bangs trimmed and I joked, "I'll do it!"

"Do you know how to cut hair?" she asked.

"Not really. But it's just bangs. How hard can it be?" [spoiler... harder than I expected].

To my astonishment, she actually consented.

So I took the scissors and trimmed the bangs a bit, and they actually didn't look half-bad, but the left side was a teensy bit shorter than the right. So I trimmed the right side... but I took a bit too much off, and now THAT side was shorter, so I trimmed the left, which ended up too short again.

I don't know how long I went back and forth like that, but in the end, when I finally got that line nice and straight - when it was "perfect,"- I stepped back and realized I'd accidentally left the poor girl with "bangs" that were less than an inch long. ...she was understandably furious, to which I responded, "YOU'RE the one who let a fifth-grader cut your hair."

When I think about a piece being "perfect," I always think back to those bangs, and how that initial trim actually wasn't terrible. I've since learned how to properly cut bangs, which included learning that hair is inherently messy stuff, and it will NEVER be 100% perfect, and that you can actually incorporate those imperfections into layers that enhance the final product rather than detracting from it. Writing is the same way. You want to make it as amazing as you can, but it's also vitally important to know when to stop, and learning to recognize that point is a skill in its own right.
 
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Lakey

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I don't think a story can be perfect, but I struggle (partly from inexperience and partly from personality) with knowing when it's good enough to stop touching.

I had a short story published last year that, after I gave it the last round of edits and submitted it to a few places, I started to feel I had overedited - like overworked dough, there were places where my efforts to improve the shape of sentences had made them stiffen up. If the piece had not been accepted, I would have reverted to the second-to-last draft, at least partially, before sending it out again.

On the other hand, it was accepted, so at least one editor thought it was just fine as it was, overworked and all.

Now I have a piece that's been rejected from about half a dozen journals, is still pending with a few more; and finished in the top 3 in one very respectable journal's annual contest. And now I'm wondering whether I should tweak it some more before I send it out again. After all, there are a couple of spots where I think it could be better, even if I'm not yet exactly sure how to execute. Maybe I should sit down with it and take another stab at those one or two passages that bug me (that I'd already rewritten several times before submitting in the first place).

I'm still not sure what I'll do. On the one hand, it placed in that contest! It must be pretty good. On the other hand, it didn't win the contest. Am I doing myself a disservice by not trying to make it better? Or is that energy better spent working on the next story? I don't know the answer.

:e2coffee:
 

Ari Meermans

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I don't think a story can be perfect, but I struggle (partly from inexperience and partly from personality) with knowing when it's good enough to stop touching.

I had a short story published last year that, after I gave it the last round of edits and submitted it to a few places, I started to feel I had overedited - like overworked dough, there were places where my efforts to improve the shape of sentences had made them stiffen up. If the piece had not been accepted, I would have reverted to the second-to-last draft, at least partially, before sending it out again.

On the other hand, it was accepted, so at least one editor thought it was just fine as it was, overworked and all.

Now I have a piece that's been rejected from about half a dozen journals, is still pending with a few more; and finished in the top 3 in one very respectable journal's annual contest. And now I'm wondering whether I should tweak it some more before I send it out again. After all, there are a couple of spots where I think it could be better, even if I'm not yet exactly sure how to execute. Maybe I should sit down with it and take another stab at those one or two passages that bug me (that I'd already rewritten several times before submitting in the first place).

I'm still not sure what I'll do. On the one hand, it placed in that contest! It must be pretty good. On the other hand, it didn't win the contest. Am I doing myself a disservice by not trying to make it better? Or is that energy better spent working on the next story? I don't know the answer.

:e2coffee:
[Emphasis mine.]

IMO, this is the point where you look up and away from the story to other factors. If the story placed but didn't win, it's safe to assume it was good enough but not quite what that ONE contest was looking for. I'd set it aside while looking for the next market that might be a good fit and work on the new story. just my 2cents.
 
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Marissa D

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Who gets to decide what "perfection " is? One reader's perfect is another's meh, as can be demonstrated by three minutes scrolling through the Amazon reviews of any well - known (or just any) book. It's just too subjective.
 

ironmikezero

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Perfection is, always was, and always will be a matter of opinion, and in all candor, no more predictable than a duly considered roll of dice. Obsessive pursuit thereof is fraught with pitfalls, like analysis paralysis. We are all encouraged to do our best at the present task, and then move on to our next endeavor or challenge. After all, life is too damn short.
 

Auteur

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That's a tough one, since the imperfections can make the story better. If it's too polished, that can be a bad thing.
 

frimble3

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"There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in."

Leonard Cohen
 

Woollybear

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OP: Is part of the question, "When will I know I am done?"
 

starrystorm

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OP: Is part of the question, "When will I know I am done?"

I guess so. I keep telling myself after this draft I'll get betas, but as I edit, I can't help but think I need one more draft, but I know that draft will lead to another and then another.

So, basically, yes.
 

Brightdreamer

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Are the changes actively improving the story? If so, change away. If not, then stop.

Are they masking a problem you can sense but not identify? If so, get a trusted set of eyes other than your own on the work. If not, then stop.

Are you just rearranging things to keep from having to face the next stage (submissions) and possible rejection? If so, then stop.

There is quite literally no such thing as perfection. Nowhere. Not even nature gets it 100% right... but if it weren't for imperfections and mutations, new species would never develop and life would stagnate. The pursuit of perfection is an exercise in futility - but it's one that often feels more comfortable than deciding you have arrived at a finish line and need to face the next step or another race altogether.
 

Curlz

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I don't see why not. At some point you read the stuff on the page and no improvements spring to mind. So that must be the story's final form. Sometimes I'd read a book (by a famous author) and I would just admire it for being so perfect that nothing seems to need changing. So yes, those perfect books exist, IMHO.
 

Jack McManus

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I'm paraphrasing here, but what I think I heard/read somewhere, was, "Stories are not finished, they are abandoned."
Another bit of advice I've seen: "If you find you are putting in commas here and there, then taking them out only to put them back in, you're done. Go on to the next project."
My take away: Do the best I can with it, then let it go and send it out.
 

Woollybear

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I guess so. I keep telling myself after this draft I'll get betas, but as I edit, I can't help but think I need one more draft, but I know that draft will lead to another and then another.

So, basically, yes.

OK, FWIW I decided I was 'done' when I was no longer learning through revision. Not that my novel was perfect, but that I would learn more and more enjoyably on a different project.

In terms of using beta readers--There is something called an alpha reader, and there's no reason to alpha or beta an entire novel. You can ask for a beta swap (or beta read, or alpha swap or read) on a chapter, or fifty pages. This might even be better than swapping the whole novel, because the issues that a reader identifies in a not-quite-ready draft will be throughout the whole manuscript. You take their feedback on a single chapter and apply it throughout.
 

Thomas Vail

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I guess so. I keep telling myself after this draft I'll get betas, but as I edit, I can't help but think I need one more draft, but I know that draft will lead to another and then another.

So, basically, yes.
It's very hard to ever reach a point where you will stop feeling the urge to tinker. Especially since as you're editing, you're actively thinking about things to change and improve on. There's very likely never going to be a point where everything clicks and you look at it and say, 'yes, this is perfect.' It's very much like chasing your own tail. MAYBE you might catch it someday, but will it really be worth the effort it took?
 

mccardey

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I have read some perfect stories and some perfect, perfect novels (hello, Marilynne Robinson; hello Carrie Tiffany; hello, Gillian Mears - oh and hello to so many more. I have a whole double shelf of Perfect Books in my library). I don't know if the authors felt they were perfect, or if the perfection was forged between author and editor, publisher and (perhaps) agent. But I thought they were perfect, and I'm the one who matters, amirite?
 

EvilPenguin

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IMO, NOTHING is perfect, but seeking perfection is something that a lot of us tend to do, even though it's unachievable.

When it comes to your book, you gotta decide when it's good enough to go to the next stage (whether that's betas or querying or publishing.) There will always be something you could probably tweak, but if you spend the rest of your life tweaking the little things, you'll never be done with it.
 

benbenberi

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No story is ever perfect to its author.

You will always see *something* that wants polishing, or tweaking, or enhancing, or removing, or correcting, or improving, or... No matter how much you've already polished & fixed & reworked & edited, there will always be *something* that isn't quite perfect next time you look.

Up to a point, that's useful. Past that point, it isn't.

The trick, generally gained through experience, is to recognize when it's time to just stop. Let it go. Move on. If you get actionable feedback from an appropriate source -- say, a purchasing editor -- then you can go back and act on the feedback. Otherwise, leave it be.

Remember: the best is the enemy of the good. And "perfect" is in the eye of the reader.
 

Atlantic12

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And to add to what benbenberi said, "Perfect is the enemy of done."

I could pretty much guarantee you that any "perfect" novel you've read has a million flaws in the eyes of the author. I know that's true for my first book, and it's about to head to copy edits. But at some point, I just have to let it go. Warts and all.

When do you know what that point is? If you think you can't improve the book by yourself anymore, give it to a beta reader, someone who will be honest. Do not expect "this is perfect!" and if you get it, give the book to someone else. Accept the fact that you will never get it perfect. It's a liberating feeling. It just has to be good enough. If several honest critique partners say "Go for it!" then submit the book to agents or whatever you want to do. Push it out of the nest. Sometimes you need an external kick in the pants to do that (I know I did). Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
 

RookieWriter

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Can it be? I'm doing draft after draft, and am always changing something. I'm constantly thinking. "This will never be perfect." Honestly, do you ever think to yourself that your story is perfect? Does it have to be perfect in the end? Is it possible for a writer to think one of their works is perfect?

I don't think being a perfectionist is helpful for the most part. It's an easy way to procrastinate and always focus on the negative. It's good to put your best product out to whoever is looking at it but at some point you need to get it out there. Being a perfectionist can block that.
 

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I can see a point where I'll be finished editing. At that point, it will be as "perfect" as it's going to get. :)
 

lorna_w

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Not if you are learning still, and most artists always are.

It took me years to learn that "good enough is good enough." Had I not learned that, I'd have never become a fulltime writer. If you tinker with one short story for ten years, even if you sell that one story to the New Yorker (or whoever the biggest paying market is these days), it's not going to pay your bills for long.

I used to drive myself crazy, changing "sauntered" to "strolled" and back again. Readers don't care at all about such things. Doesn't matter. Pick one. Move on.
 

cool pop

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Think about books you've read. Have you ever read a story that was perfect with no mistakes at all or where it couldn't be improved? Even the most revered classics are far from perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect book. It doesn't matter how many times you edit, etc. Also, "perfect" is in the eye of the beholder in terms of story. But in terms of technical issues like typos, etc, no book is perfect. At the end of the day we are all human whether we are authors, editors or both and we all overlook things. They key is to get the book in the best shape it's in and be satisfied. It can be detrimental to become one of those writers who gets stuck in the "editing zone" where every single time they look at their work, whether it's published or not, they wanna second-guess or do another edit. I don't care how many people look over a book, it's not ever going to be perfect.
 

Chase

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Nope. A story can only be published the best we can make it with the help of friends. :greenie