With partials in the mail, it’s time for my “final” pass through my novel, Dreams of a Shaper. You’ll note the quotes around final, and they’re there for a good reason–I don’t actually think I’m done. On that happy day when I get an agent and/or publisher, I expect more work for certain.
However, here final means I’m closing on the limits of what I can see to do myself. I’m finding typos, hastily disposing of unnecessary adverbs, and fixing occasional clunky sentences (often the result of prior editing), but by and large the pages say pretty much what I meant them to. I’m not a writer drawn to the eternal revising some find so attractive. I’ve already spent seven years with this book. Frankly, that’s too long and I’m ready for something different.
But before I can wholeheartedly move to the next project, this last polish has to be done. I’ve got to look at it again, because the next person to see it after that will be an agent or publisher who’s requested a full.
How do you finish off a long project? Are there any tricks you use to finally set it aside, or are you already prepared to move on once the first draft is in the bag?