Are You Done Yet?

Writing In Bear Feet

The question I want to ask published authors is, “How do you know when it’s done?” There is always more to improve, more to research, more to write. But how do you prevent the work from getting bloated, or over-ripe? When do you stop?

“When you hit the deadline,” say the grizzled writers. “You’ll just know,” say the unhelpfully wise writers.

Since I haven’t given myself a hard deadline yet, I use two tactics. When I reach the end of a section of my book I ask myself:

1. Is it shareable? Do I feel good enough to share it? If I feel really excited about the section, or the chapter, and can’t wait to tell someone about it, then I’m usually ready to go to the next phase.
2. Is it Focused? Does it accomplish the goals I set out in my initial Focus? In the case of Create More Better DIfferent, I wrote down that I want to demystify creativity, give insight into creative strengths and weaknesses, help build a creative toolkit, and inspire creators. If the section does none of these things, then it needs reworking, or in some situations, it needs to be cut.

Deadlines are part of the Action Toolkit. They give you momentum. Shareability is an attribute of the Creative Potential Meter (I used to call it the Creative Success Meter). It allows you to look at many different parameters to see if you have done your absolute best. Focus is part of the Connection Toolkit. It makes sure you know what you are trying to accomplish.

It’s exciting to be using the tools I’m writing about to write the book about those tools!