Knowing When Your Document Is "Finished"

Elizabeth said:
Working as a technical writer, editing is a huge part of my job. I edit my own work and often edit the work of others. The hardest part of editing (for me) is closing the Word file and saying "done!" Half the time I'm forced to be done due to a deadline. But often I find myself reading the piece over and over again, boggled with edits I didn't notice the read before. What advice do you have on walking away from something you're editing and considering it finished?

Is it ever?
The truth is, in any area of publishing, a document is never, truly finished. No matter how skilled the editing team is, it will leave some typo unnoticed, some inconsistency uncorrected. It’s human error. And even if all minor errors are corrected and the document is printed in “perfect” condition, there is always room to improve or revise the document as future opportunities and needs arise. But this does not answer Elizabeth’s real question, nor is it the answer I’m sure you want to hear. The real question at hand is not when a document is finished; it’s when a document is considered finished. And that question has a much simpler, more precise answer: A document is considered finished when you know you have done all you can do with it in the time allotted.

Using the Deadline to Your Advantage
One of the most — and least — convenient aspects of working in publishing is the deadline. It is the marker by which schedules are set, work plans are arranged, and tasks are divided. Unfortunately, it also an ever-looming, ever-moving target. You have undoubtedly worked under tight deadlines; and you have almost definitely watched at least one come and go, with no completed project.

Still, the deadline is a truly effective tool when you view it as your ally. Are you having trouble getting the writer to send you material? “We have a deadline to meet.” Is the production team dragging its feet and burying your project? “We have a deadline to meet.” Let the deadline play the “bad cop” in your mission to complete a successful document.

This holds true in your own work as well — and if you have trouble letting go, this is a strategy you’ll want to use with yourself perhaps more than with others. If you tend to keep going over and over the same material, remind yourself that you have a deadline to meet. The document may never be perfect in your eyes; but what matters is that it is perfect in the readers’ eyes. And it can’t be perfect in their eyes unless you meet your deadline and get the document out to your readership.

The “Drop-Dead” Date
I personally like to take deadlines very seriously; I respect their intended definition as the point by which the document must be done. But a more accurate, and more widely accepted, definition is “the first offer in series of negotiations.” The deadline is originally set as the target date — the goal or ideal end point. As work piles up and the original date becomes less realistic, negotiations begin in earnest between writers, editors, designers, and printers. The end result of such negotiations is the “drop-dead date” — the date at which the document must go to its next destination (editing, production, printing, etc.), or the project will die…or the date on which, if you show up empty handed, you do so at your own mortal risk.

Like the original deadline, the drop-dead date can actually be quite beneficial in the editing process. For editors in particular — who have a penchant for re-reading the same paragraph until they are convinced every word in it is somehow misspelled — this date provides a forced resolution to Elizabeth’s question. The document must be considered “finished” on the drop-dead date, because you don’t have another option. The drop-dead date can provide closure, assuming you are able to meet it with the knowledge that you've done your job well, and the document is ready.

Walking Away
Perhaps the most difficult step in the editing process is not accepting the deadline, or even meeting the deadline, but rather walking away from the deadline and the document. As writers and editors, we are all lovers of language. And truly loving and appreciating the power of language comes with an understanding that it can almost always be better. This understanding drives us to constantly improve; but it can also tie us to a project longer than necessary. You have to consider the document “finished” when you know that you have done all that is necessary to ensure the document reaches the audience and communicates your intended message. Typos may remain; inconsistencies may persist. But when you have improved all you can within the parameters of that project, you must convince yourself that you have finished, and move on to the next project with your full attention.