It's been crazy-busy around the Art Jewelry offices over the last few weeks... as an editor, I have a love/hate relationship with deadlines. Of course I despise deadlines, because they're an ever-present reminder that there's something I should be doing, and because I'm usually running late. But, on the other hand, deadlines make me let go. I'm a perfectionist, and the thing about the written word is that it can always be revised just one more time. I learned this from my father, who hammered it into me that "there's no such thing as a perfect first draft!" I learned that lesson so well that now I more-than-half-believe that there's no such thing as a perfect final copy, either. I'm writing a story for our January issue, and I'm currently driving Jill, who will be acting as story editor for the piece, absolutely crazy. I just can't let it go. Just yesterday, I decided that the entire opening was completely... what was the word I used? Oh, yes. "Lame." The entire opening was lame, and I deleted it and started over. If it weren't for deadlines, this could go on for months. When I finally do let it go, I won't be surprised if Jill is reduced to actually physically pulling the pages out of my grasping hands.

I'm obsessing about this because today was the ultimate, drop-dead deadline for our November issue. The production department called me in to look at what is called the "book proof." The entire magazine, every single page, in order. Everything in place. Exactly the way it will look once it's printed. This is the last chance I have to catch any mistakes before the whole thing gets shipped off to the printer. And it makes my palms itch with the desire to reach for my red pen. Because I'm an editor — I can always find something to change. Even if it's not wrong, there might just be a way to make it better. But while I could still change things, technically, it would cost a lot of money and would give a lot of very nice people headaches. And given what a team effort putting out a magazine requires, it's good to keep that in mind when you're thinking, "I wonder how that would look in blue..."

In any case, there's plenty of scope for my compulsive need to revise. Because even while the production department has pried the November pages out of my grasping hands, the January issue is still in rough text form, and I've got a long trail of red ink ahead of me.