Gabriella, I think that's sensible. Read it once, maybe twice. Beyond that, let go. Editors have different styles and who's to say they're not going to change it up entirely?

Paula, I never got that, either. It's a story. It's just as important as any other story you've written. My goal always has been to get into the story and bring out the best in it. I don't care where it lands. I remember a client once saying "It's going to be on the cover, so congratulations!" I had to feign excitement. At that point I'd had a ton of covers. All I cared about was if the story was accepted by the readers.

Hugh, now I'm swaying and humming…thanks. 😉 I couldn't agree more – writing and editing are collaborative. I can remember just one instance where I was totally frustrated with the editor and it's because the editing sucked the very life out of every sentence but four in a huge article. I'm all for changing things to fit the readership and the voice, but if you're an editor and you're rewriting the stories, you're either overthinking or you're in love with your own voice.

Lisa, it's okay. You're among friends. 🙂 This is a no-fear zone. Punctuation issues don't count in casual conversations here.

CFD, totally true. I've had some rather unfortunate encounters with writers who took my editorial suggestions like I was attacking their lineage. They were the writers I didn't give follow-up assignements to.

I like the idea of letting go though. A few writers just write and write regardless of grammar and technicalities…and when they have let it go…that's when they go back and edit.

But…once again I'm caught in the perfectionist trap. I'm designing my new website for my new freelance business and have wasted, I don't want to confess how much time (one month!) teaching myself to use Illustrator like a pro so that my website looks like I spent $20,000 hiring a fancy site designer to put up my site. Really stupid, I know. Mea Culpa.

Fair or not, when colleagues describe themselves as perfectionists, what I hear is "I'm extremely impressed with my own abilities, and I'm going to use this mythical pursuit of perfection as an excuse to miss every deadline."

On a related note, I think the answer for self-doubt is to embrace the collaborative nature of almost all professional writing. I'm going to produce the best possible copy I can, and I'm going to treat your edits/ suggestions not as complaints or criticisms, but rather as an opportunity to make the final product as close to perfect as we can get it — together.

OK, I'd write more, but I've got a drum circle & a round of "Kumbaya" to get back to … 🙂

I tend to start by working up a very loose outline. Calling it an outline is a disservice to real outlines. It's a distinctly un-glorified list of the salient points I want to make. I assign each one of those a number, then I find the best quotes to fit those points, and figure out appropriate transitions. I write it all out, then edit-edit-edit until it's as close to the assigned length as I can manage. About nine times out of 10, there are no major changes to my copy when it hits print.

I do admit to taking greater pains when writing my first piece for a new market.

The only thing that stopped those lawyers from revising and revising was a deadline they couldn't move. Few, if any, of the changes probably made any difference in the end product. And imagine the cost to a client of several hours or even a full day of silly word-changing.

What self-absorption and lack of control, I always thought.

I try to read articles several times. If I can, I make sure one of those times is first thing in the morning after getting a good night's sleep.

Then I'm done. I don't fuss much with articles. Perhaps I'm lazy. Or maybe I'm not crazy. Whatever it is, I'm fine with it!

My personal experience with those who wring their hands and moan that they can't get anything out the door because they're "perfectionists" really means they've got high levels of narcissim. You're human, so you won't be perfect. EVER. Get over it. Do the best you can and move on. If it needs fixing, fixing. If the other party is happy with it, on to the next thing.