On the extent in which to edit written works · 12:35am Mar 5th, 2018
Many of us feel drawn to writing, be it in the form of an essay, short story or newspaper article. Whatever form our writing may take, the reasons for writing are fundamentally the same.
We want to express ourselves and our opinions through the works we create.
No matter what it is you or I write, we all come to the same problem eventually, which I'll put in the form of a question: ''At what point should I cease further editing and modification of my work and label it complete?''
This seems like a straightforward answer, a work is never finished because there will always be something you want to add, or alter, and this is especially true as your opinions change with time.
But the true answer lies in the type of editing and modification you refer to.
You see there are two types, Objective and Subjective changes. People refer to the latter when they say perfection is impossible. I'll explain both terms below:
Objective changes; You can in truth reach perfection with this type, but this requires many hours on top of that which you've already invested putting together the base work. And there's no guarantee you'll be able to achieve this without professional assistance and whether the written work is on a professional level depends primarily on the author themselves.
Examples of Objective changes: Typos. Grammar issues. Proper formatting, sentence structure and word choice (Comment if you know more). Regardless of who you ask, the majority are always in agreement that these should be fixed if possible.
Subjective changes; These type of changes are more on a personal level and are how we get unique styles of writing from different authors and the types of works they write, such as how a Saga differs from both an Epic or a Fable. No matter how hard you try with these, they're as endless as a line.
Examples of Subjective changes: Character details. Length of work. Rewriting a sentence or paragraph without altering what is being said. And finally, adding extra content that isn't required to enjoy or understand the work you've made; You can always add more, but good writers know when to draw the curtains.
Hope this helps someone, I'm not a professional writer, just a person with ideas.
Shoot me some if you feel like brainstorming.