I don't know how many of you short story writers are like me, but I'm pretty sure revision could go on forever if I let if. But I'm so sick of this story I've been writing for the last month or two. It's probably been through a half a dozen rewrites and a million other read throughs. It's a better story now than when I first wrote it. I thought I was finally done and had my lover give it a read before I submitted it anywhere. My lover thinks I need to put a little more time into it and still clean it up. But, honestly, I feel like this is just never going to end. I've put so much into this piece that I don't want to give up on it. I will just have to start at square one with something else and then edit that until I'm sick of it. I'm submitting my work to the best places. I want to send out my best work. I want this story to be done done, but I also want it to be good, but I'm also so sick of it. Ever get sick of one of your short stories? Any tips on pushing through and seeing this to the end?
Hello @deadrats. Not sure there is an end; you can tweak something forever. Guess part of the trick is knowing when to leave it alone. Too much time with one WIP tends to deaden my critical faculties, so I find taking regular breathers helpful in maintaining a sense of what is right or wrong for the particular piece, i.e. maintaining a clear vision for it.
This isn't really a matter of endless tweaking. I just can't seem to get this one right. And I'm totally going to pull my hair out if I have to read it again. Maybe that means this one is for the bin.
It happens to me sometimes with some kinds of short non-fiction pieces. You do the research, then you write, then fact check, fact check again, rewrite to account for the fact check, then the length isn't right, so you rewrite for that, then sp & g many times in there...and it will never, ever be perfect. There is no such thing. Better to get it out there and ship it than to accomplish nothing. It sounds like you need to set it aside for a few days (if you work on it daily) or a week (if you don't). But make yourself go back and finish it. Consider that your goal. ETA: But first, reorient your perspective by not looking at it for a few days to a week.
When I read somebody else's (published) work, I don't feel the need to correct them. It just seems that they've polished the text to the max, and there's no room for improvement. Or at least there is nothing that jumps out in an obvious manner. Is there other ways to write the same story? Probably. But in its current shape, it also reads quite satisfactory. I wonder what makes you think there is room for improvement when you read your stories? Is it something that seems obviously in need of correction? Like, "oh, this passage is boring!" or, "ergh, this page goes way too slow" or, "I don't really have enough furniture described in this room", "or, omg, passive voice!"... ? Or, is it a general feeling of "I'm not sure if they will like my story when I send them because it doesn't sound as sweet as Neil Gaiman writes them"? Try to pinpoint what exactly irks you about the story. And definitely give it to several people to read and hear what they say if they have any specific gripes with it. "It needs more work" is not really helpful because it doesn't tell you what exactly is wrong with it. There was this guy who thought "Pride and Prejudice" needed more work because there weren't enough zombies in it (and he went on to fix that), but, imho, the original didn't need that change at all ...
Put it all in present tense? I did that last night, and sent it away this morning. And removed about 700 words inserted over last three years. Also I tried a new approach - which I might regret, placed an apology at the conclusion, said there was a possibility our heroes might not eat the dogs [it's a starvation type narrative]
