Final Touches

[I have to laugh at myself: I chose to cut back to blogging every two weeks to make sure I wasn’t cranking things out at the last minute, and guess what I’m sitting down to write the day before I’m supposed to publish it?]

Whether it’s a novel, a painting, or a poem, there are only three parts of a creative project that are difficult: the beginning, the middle, and the end.

            In the beginning, you must overcome your initial fears and insecurities and set out on this unpredictable adventure. In the middle, you must do battle with discouragement and distractions, and persevere through the ups and downs. And at the end, you must know when to let go.

For those of you who may be confused about this novel (or novels?) I’ve said I’m writing, and when it (or they?) will be e-published, let me assure you: I’m confused too. But let’s see if I can straighten it out for all of us. There are three books in this fantasy series called Tales of Rhohin:

            1: The Calling

            2: The Black Isles

            3: The Mountain-Lands

I’ve already written first drafts for all of these, but they’re in different stages of revision. #3 is about 45% done, #2 is around 75% done, and #1 is—drumroll!—99.9% done! My goal, Lord willing, is to e-publish The Calling before the end of this month. It only needs to be formatted, now.

            It’s reached the close of that “ending” part of the creative process. The time for final touches. This part of a project is a chance for growth…or death. So often, I’ve been working on a piece of art, and I see an opportunity to push the quality up just a little higher, leading to a beautiful result. But if I push too hard, I end up wishing life had an “undo” button. You can make a project vibrant with wise final touches, or you can kill it with perfectionistic overworking.

Don’t say “The End” too soon

I recently painted the cover for The Calling. I’d gotten it to where it looked good to me, but experience has taught me that there’s a blindness that afflicts artists in regards to their own work, and it’s always a good idea to get a second opinion from un-biased eyes. My sister said the cover was really cool…except that the hero’s lips looked like a turtle’s. I laughed—he is an introverted character—and went back and made a quick adjustment.

            Similarly, I thought The Calling itself was done a while ago. It had been revised and edited up one way and down the other, and people had given me glowing reviews. But I decided it needed to be proofread one last time, and hired my younger sister, fellow-writer, and fellow-perfectionist Twila to do the job. I mentioned that she could critique anything in it, and I wanted her honest opinion, which she gave:

   

        
Did I mention Twila has a sense of humor? She was really very gracious and sensitive, and I thought her notes were hilarious, nearly falling over laughing at some of them. Most importantly, they taught me a few things. Her insights and thoughtful suggestions inspired me to push the quality just a little higher. I rewrote a whole chapter, a handful of scenes, and reworked some threads in the tapestry of the plot.

Avoiding “Death by Details”

Well, after making all those changes, I decided that The Calling needed to be proofread, yes, again. But this is the last time. Really.

            Did you know that you can literally keep revising a piece of writing forever? There is no end to the ways to arrange and rearrange words. That’s why I believe there must be a cut-off, a time to say enough is enough, and I’ve reached it.

            As I was proofreading The Calling on my computer screen, I had a sticky note nearby with the rules written on it. To sum it up: DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING UNLESS IT’S AN OUTRIGHT ERROR OR OBSCURES THE MEANING! (With small allowances for special situations.)

            I confess that I sometimes transgressed these rules, giving in to the temptation to tweak an awkward phrase or substitute a better word. But gradually, I’m learning to let go.

Why is there a danger of being trapped in final touches forever? I think it’s fear, that old enemy. I know what’s running through my mind as I prepare to release my projects:

            What if I remember something I should have done, too late?

            What if I made some terrible, stupid mistake that will make me look like an idiot?

            What if people just don’t like it?

The time for final touches is a time to trust God. If I believe He began this work, then I know He’ll finish it. I need to let go of my pride of thinking I can affect how people will respond to it. After I’ve been in the Word, prayed, and sought trustworthy council, there’s nothing I can do but trust God. I pray that as I let go, I’m releasing it straight into His hands.

            Praise God, the Master Artist and Storyteller, who knows how to perfectly tweak and dab and trim—just right and never too much—before He sends us into the next act of His masterpiece.

            I’ve quoted this verse before when talking about art, and I’ll quote it again:

            For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind [or “self-control”]. (2 Timothy 1:7)