Can a story ever be perfect?

mccardey

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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.
I'm going to disagree, quietly but in the defence of the many, many utterly perfect books I've read and loved. If you haven't found a perfect book yet, I'm sorry (and I would point you to some suggestions in #17 except I'd be self-quoting and who wants to be known as a self-quoter.. ? ;) )
 

frimble3

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Yes, but the reader sees it as a done, complete book. They don't see the myriad choices and decisions the author made. (Unless it's a Choose-Your-Own Adventure story.) They are satisfied or not with the story as a whole.
Or, they are inspired enough to start to write themselves. :evil

The writer sees all the variables, all the choices. It must be hard to declare it 'done'.

But, you can pick at things forever, for no real gain. Remember, even Michelangelo gave the Sistine Chapel one last look, took down the scaffolding and cashed the Pope's cheque.
 
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SWPelzer

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I don't think an author will ever think their own story is perfect, or done. They will always be able to find one more thing to add/tweak/change/delete. It is the nature of the beast. The story is yours and you have lived with it for days/weeks/months/years so you are always inside the characters. The reader or editor starts fresh. They build the world as they read the work. As long as they find it pleasing, they are going to say it is perfect (or almost so). I guess perfection is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?
 

mccardey

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Yes, but the reader sees it as a done, complete book. They don't see the myriad choices and decisions the author made

I don't think an author will ever think their own story is perfect,
Oh yes, that's my mistake, sorry. For some reason I was reading the OP as "Can a story be perfect" rather than "Will the writer ever think the story is perfect?"

Sorry.

Answer: I agree - probably not. So go for 'as perfect as I can make it' and also - finished. :)
 

indianroads

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Perfect from which perspective?
No, I don't believe a story is ever perfect, but it can be imperfect in interesting ways.

When I was a kid (back when books were stone tablets) I recall reading that some artists would deliberate create flaws so the rest of their work would seem perfect. I have absolutely no idea if that's true though.
 

jwhite1979

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I wouldn't submit a query for a novel unless it was perfect, but of course, I'm the one who defines perfection for my own work. To me, my book is perfect when its logic is consistent, each scene is purposeful, the characters evolve believably and meaningfully, and the story's structure compliments the narrative and themes. If I can check those boxes, then I say it's perfect.
 

butterfly

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We are imperfect people living in a imperfect world. The words "perfect", "never", and "always" shouldn't be spoken or written because they're pretty much traps. Don't worry so much about being perfect because that may actually translate into you wondering what people will think about you and not your story. Think about your story. Does it say what you wanted it to? Is it as truthful as it can be? It is simplistic or over-wordy because if it is, cut that fluff out. Focus on your story and not you.

As far as over-editing, ask yourself why are you doing it? If the story is done, stop. If it isn't done then you're not editing, you're adding. So add, edit, then stop. Be gracious enough with yourself to say "good enough!", then let it go and move on.
 

Fallen

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Nah, I agree. A stroy will never be perfect to the author, but that's a good thing so long as you can control it. That you're able to let it go and hand it over to betas/editor/copy editors to see where they think it's not perfect.
 

TheListener

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It can never be perfect because everyone has their own idea of what perfect should be. It can only be good, better, or the best you can do. But if you can describe a perfect book, then maybe you can try to emulate it.
 

ZeMegwin12

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It can never be perfect.

But it can always be better.

I think the trick is to find the point of diminishing returns on your ultimate goal.

Easy, right? lol
 

Fuchsia Groan

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As a reader, I suppose I have thought “This is perfect” about some novels and stories. I think it has to do with things like internal consistency, appropriate yet creative diction, harmony of style and subject. But because I’m a romantic (in the old-fashioned sense, as opposed to classicist), many of my personal favorite books are over-ambitious ones that have very obvious imperfections, like Stendhal’s The Red and the Black (huge tonal inconsistencies, structural issues, an ending that arguably doesn’t match the rest of the book) and Kafka’s The Castle (not even finished!). Many of the books I love don’t have the three-act structure that it’s been drummed into my head I have to have in my own books.

Nothing I’ve written is ever gonna seem “perfect” to me, but sometimes it feels like it’s been through the kiln and has hardened into a final shape that I can accept. That’s what I aim for—basically, sentences and paragraphs and chapters that make me keep reading rather than stopping to scratch my head and meditate on a smarter word choice. Something that flows. Something that turns me from a writer back into a reader.
 

indianroads

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Perfection, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?

For me, 'Breakfast of Champions' by Vonnegut, 'Fahrenheit 451' by Bradbury, and 'The Gods Themselves' by Asimov come very close, but others would probably find them wanting.
 

Auteur

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I think you work on a story for a while, and you get to the point where you say, "Fuck it. That's good enough." At that point, it's finished.
 

SAWeiner

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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.

Yes, I basically agree--although of course perfection is subjective. I also find that it is easy to miss small things in my work--a stray period or comma, quotation marks going the wrong way, etc.--despite going through it over and over and over. Additionally, I can change my mind back and forth about a word choice here and there.

The big thing for me is dread of the unknown--of missing something agents and publishers will loathe--but which I was oblivious to and my betas, including paid experts, did not catch or point out to me.
 
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Woollybear

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I think a story can hit a point, though, where a reader can go beginning to end without being jarred out of any of it (by things like clunky prose or authorial intrusions.)

I think this is like tuning an instrument and singing a song. You can tune and practice until the whole thing 'rings true' and there is not a single flat note. The song will be done, then. It still might not be a perfect song because I doubt any of us agree what perfection is.
 

Dan Rhys

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The answer is really no, because you can always find some flaw in a story--thus you don't want to keep chiseling your sculpture until you have nothing left--BUT I believe my second novel is pretty darn near close to perfect ;-)
 

Woollybear

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I'm always impressed with authors whose prose is flawless and whose novel I could read in one sitting. I can count these authors on my hands.

More often, (most often), I cannot make it through the first page. Trips to B&N is always a depressing experience for me. I think literature and so on is quite subjective. But, good writing is a necessary part of it, and thankfully this part of it is something that continues to develop, as I understand things.

Example: I started using sentence fragments in my prose to get past the technical nature of my writing (my default). It was a way of injecting a little voice without falling on courser tools like profanity.

It worked. But now I feel like I rely too heavily on sentence fragments as a way to sort of inject voice and thought (we can often 'think' in fragments) and I suspect next novel I'll use fewer. I suspect the day will come when I wonder why the hell I used so many sentence fragments in this first novel.
 
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WeaselFire

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Heard a motto the other day that I need to adopt: "Strive for perfection, settle for excellence."

Jeff
 

johnsolomon

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This is the closest anyone ever got:

19gd3y.jpg

I think she was 119 when she finished tweaking Chapter 2.

So... no :tongue
 
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Paul Lamb

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I think Capote believed a story could be perfect, but my opinion is that it's the same as not being able to step into the same river twice. You're a different person each time you come to your story, and you're going to read it differently. In the preface to John Cheever's collection of stories he says that when he re-read his early works, he was embarrassed at how immature the writing was. But I'm sure at the time he thought they were the best things he'd ever done.