No, this isn’t to be a blogpost about selling mega-copies of your latest book, nor about personal-life stuff like marriage proposals or lottery winnings. Rather, today I am on about finishing projects successfully.
There is a certain sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you finish a project and know you’ve done a good job. This is true of any type of project, from woodworking to graduating college summa cum laude to…writing a book. (You knew we were going to wind up talking about writing, didn’t you?)
I recently finished ghostwriting a book for a client. It felt good to have finished the project. I had it out of the way and out of my hair. This gave me a great sense of relief. But would the client be please? This is always a concern. I sent the book off to the client, and he acknowledged receipt, adding that he would read it that evening. But the next morning there was no note in my email inbox stating that he was pleased. To be sure, there was no note complaining about my craftsmanship either, but his silence concerned me. Had I somehow missed the mark?
Rather than sit and stew, I wrote and asked him. His reply was that business had intervened, and he’d had a chance to read only a small portion of the book…though, he added, he’d liked what he’d read.
The next day brought the news I wanted. The book was, in his word, “perfect.” I’d captured his voice spot-on. There were two words I’d used that he wouldn’t use. “Tube” for “TV” was one; he didn’t say what the other was. He would change those—a small matter indeed. But apart from that, the book was exactly what he wanted.
Once again I felt a glow of satisfaction at a happy ending.
Whatever the project you’re working on, from writing a book to wallpapering a bathroom to baking a pie with an intricate lattice crust to crafting homemade fishing lures, you want to give it your all, give it your best shot, and avoid the temptation to rush through, in haste to finish, and risk doing a slapdash job.
Then, when you’re done, you can survey the final result and not only be pleased that you’ve reached the end of your task but also be pleased with the work you’ve produced.
Happy ending indeed!