ART & WRITING / FINE-TUNING

Fine-tuning a manuscript or a painting can present needless aggravation if the writer or artist doesn’t know when to stop.

In a TV interview, an artist was asked why none of his paintings were hung in his home. He replied: “I would go mad. I would never stop finding flaws and touching them up.”
Oh boy, talk about being able to “relate.”
I know a writer who finished her novel 5 years ago, but considers herself still in the “revision” process.
Once again, I can “relate.”
So when can artists and writers “move on”? Obviously, there must be a point when an artist or a writer says, “Basta! Enough!”
For writers: maybe you’ve revised to the point where your story is becoming weaker, or perhaps the manuscript you’re revising ad infinitum is flawed and beyond revision. What to do? Seek out feedback from your writer’s group, and in the meantime, get out of your rut and write something else.
For artists: the same rules apply as for writers. Maybe you’ve dabbled so many times you’ve lost the unique “life” of the painting. Perhaps your original drawing or layout wasn’t what it should have been.
Or maybe you all need a shot of tequila and to get the hell over it and move on.