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Whether it’s music or writing, here’s my metric: If you’ve been working on the thing in a disciplined fashion for a long time and you still think it’s good, it is.
I don’t know about you, but I’m generally not that impressed with myself, so for me to even come up with something that I think is cool takes some work. Sure, I can generate lots of creative ideas, but ideas aren’t works. At least not yet.
But once you’ve actually got something—a book, an album, a play—the real challenge is in the long haul.
Does it hold up after you’ve been working on it for a year? What about two years? How about after it was met with condescending derision by not one, but two editors, both of whom you paid what was, for you, a significant chunk of change?
Well, I’m about to finish a novel I’ve been working on for over two and a half years, and I can honestly say that it is, indeed, good. It doesn’t fit neatly into any box, but it’s very much alive and exists in a messy world of its own.
I’m happy with it, and maybe even a little sad it’s coming to an end. But I want to remember this feeling, because I’m about to send it out into the world where it’s going to face a crushing amount of rejection. Lots of people are not going to share my opinion. I’m a writer, so I know that up front.
But no matter what anyone else thinks, at the end of the day I know that it’s good. It grew up and became something special, something better than its author. It may never meet the audience that needs it, but they’re out there, and I can honestly say I’m going to do my best to help them find it.
Now let’s see if I make something even better.