Finishing a Book is a Skill

Millo Ho’s post is so true. Writing is a continual path of learning in phases. First, how to write fiction – plotting, characters, story arc, pacing, dialogue. And then into editing and revising, making it more dynamic, aligning it all. Finishing novels becomes a powerful challenge. You’ve lived with it, loving it, caring for it, and then, finished with a draft, only to learn as you begin revising it, more work is required. You keep changing hats, from writer to editor to reader to critic, back to writer, moving through the phases.

Yet, this is the same lesson to be learned about everything. Things are rarely fully finished. There’s often more that can be done to improve them, and learning to say, I’m done and accept what you’ve accomplished, is one of the ongoing challenges.

So is learning not to stop too soon. It’s a balance on a rocking sea.