I heard once that Walt Disney's least favorite of his animated features was Snow White. He spent so much time working and reworking the story that by the time the film was released, all he could see were the flaws that still remained.
Two weeks ago, I finished the first round of edits for HIS GOOD OPINION. Since then, I've gotten congratulations from all my friends and family, but each time someone comments on how much work I've done, I feel a little more like a fraud. They don't know how many errors still remain, especially in the last five chapters.
Editing is a never-ending process. I finished one revision on the 18th and started back in with the next round on the 20th. That won't stop until I publish the book in November or December, and even then, I'm sure I'll find little things I wish I could fix.
However, at some point you have to let the project go. That's what I'm learning right now. Even if there's still work left, I need to allow myself to feel like I accomplished something. And when I release the book... that's it. Unless I find major errors that need to be corrected, I won't continually pull the ebook down for corrections.
How do you know when a story is done? When do you know to let it go and move on to the next thing?
