Writing a book is no easy task. However, if you can manage to finish writing that book that you’ve always dreamed of, you will feel fulfilled and satisfied with life. It is always good to go after your dreams or to achieve a goal, just be warned about how much work it will take. Since very few people ever finish writing their books, you are only allowed to pat yourself on the back if you manage to do finish. Heck, that’s assuming that you even get started. Most people won’t even get past the word “Go.” Even if you finish writing that book you’ve always wanted, that is only a first draft. Your book will still need to be rewritten and improved upon several times before it’s ready for publication. There is also no guarantee that your book will be successful. In fact, most authors end up having their first book fail.

You have already made tremendous progress just for writing the first draft, but if you wish to get your book published, it’s going to take a little bit more work. After finishing your book for the first time, put your book away and don’t touch the draft for at least one month. This is because you want to give your brain enough time to stop thinking about your book and enough time to rest. After a month has passed, when you look at your book and try to read it, you will be able to more easily pick out the errors that you could not see before. But if you had tried to proofread right away after finishing it, your mind would not have noticed the mistakes. When you’re too involved in the process, and since you worked so hard on your book, it will be harder for you to take a step back and look at your book objectively.

Throughout the book creation process, it will be rewritten many times. However, if you want that book to be published, sometimes you have to overlook certain stylistic choices or problems. That doesn’t mean that you should be sloppy, just that being too much of a perfectionist can be a book thing. The key to balancing your rewrites with how much work it will require to publish another draft. Fixing grammar and spelling mistakes are key, but fixing something that is subjective such as “What kind of backstory should I give this character? What is the importance of this character in this scene?” If you nitpick with every scene and character, you may find your book becoming crowded. Sometimes, even if your book still has a few flaws in it, just getting it out into the world and published is the best thing you can do.