Wednesday, January 22, 2020

You Can Always Do Better, But…


I make my living as an optical engineer. I've been doing it for many years. During the first half of my engineering career I worked for other companies before starting my own.

During the time of working for others, I observed the very common tension between engineers and salespeople at companies that develop products. The old saw goes that engineers say the product is never ready to be released, and salespeople sell it before the first drawing is done.

Obviously reality lands somewhere in between.

Writing does too. One difference is that the writer, alone, is both engineer and salesperson. The writer has to finish writing something. Sometimes you never think it's done. Sometimes you're so fed up with it that you wish it would simply go away.

I write, re-write, re-write, get critiqued in group, re-write. Then sometimes I let my writing sit for a while, maybe weeks, maybe months. When I pick it up and read with fresh eyes, I usually find a way to make it better. Sometimes I also realize that despite my lack of commercial success (so far), I can be pretty darn good, on occasion.

But I don't do this more than twice. My inner salesman yells, "It's finished. Next!" And he's right. You can always do better, but don't make one story your life's work. Polishing brings diminishing returns. Writing IS.*

*with apologies to Robert A. Heinlein.


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