"The hardest part is starting."

You've probably heard some version of that at one point or another and, it's not wrong. Starting is terrifying; staring a stubbornly blank page, willing something, anything, to appear. But once you finish, it's all worth it, right? Because you created something?

Maybe.

For me, finishing is just as difficult as starting. Yeah, you have words on a page, but so what? Having words on a page doesn't mean you're a good writer, it just means you're capable of writing. You have to edit and rework, slowly making your work marginally better with each revisit. So how do you know you're done? When is something the best it can be? And how can you be sure?

When I write, I always end up in this place of desperate prefectionism. I want to make sure that the final draft is the best draft I have, but I can never be sure. In an effort to get out of my own head, I try to focus less on thinking about whether my draft is good and instead take a few actionable steps to try to dig myself out of this hole.

1. Step back. Before revisiting a piece, I find it helpful to let it breathe for a little bit. Going straight from writing to editing can be overwhelming. You're still in the writing mindset, wanting to change and create rather than read and absorb. Even stepping away for an hour can help you come back with fresh eyes.

2. Reread. After some time has passed, read your work again. Make comments, but don't make any changes. Just read it. Pretend you're experiencing your work for the the first time. What do you get from it? Does it align with what you're trying to convey? What sticks out to you and is that a good or bad thing?

3. Edit. Now that you've read over your work at least once, make some changes. Rearrange a few phrases, reword a few things, play around with punctuation a little bit. Ask yourself if the little changes you are considering make your work stronger or weaker, then take action.

4. Compare. Personally, I see nothing wrong with trashing old work, but I always make sure that I cannot find any productive or sentimental use of what I've written before throwing it out. When it comes to editing, however, I refuse to throw out old drafts until the final version is complete. Comparing old drafts to newer versions can be very helpful, giving you the opportunity to take your favorite parts of every version to frankenstein something completely new.

5. Repeat. This is where it gets tricky, because sometimes you should repeat, sometimes, you shouldn't. I find it hard to tell when I should, so I like to have other people look at what I've written and give me feedback to see if what they get from the piece is what I'm trying to convey. Of course, you may not be comfortable sharing your work with people just yet, but you could always send it in to a publication such as this one and get feedback that way. Then, you can take that feedback and decide for yourself what you want to do with it.