I’ve just given approval (and paid for) 400 sweet sweet softcover glossy copies of all 140 pages of TAKE IT EASY: And More Tips for the Dedicated Improviser. MY BOOK IS HEADING TO THE PRINTING PRESS!
It was stuck for quite a while in getting the layout right phase, followed by a getting the text fixed stage. We subsequently had a blank page situation, and when I finally figured out how to fill those pages, the layout of those pages wasn’t right. More thinking, more tinkering, more work.
Dans ses écrits, un sage Italien
Dit que le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.
(In his writings, a wise Italian
says that the better is the enemy of good.)
– Voltaire
And then we finally got the layout right and I went through the text again and found 6 typos/mistakes. And I didn’t even go through it with a fine-toothed comb, more like a quick scan. But I still picked up some issues and had them removed. Unfortunately, I suspect there might be another couple mistakes lurking in there.
And even if there’s not, I would have loved to do a couple of other textual tweaks, in terms of layout. And during that scan, I found some more imperfect expressions of my ideas. I was in a loop. But, ultimately, I had to let it go.
Were it not sinful then, striving to mend,
To mar the subject that before was well?
– William Shakespeare
And in sending it off — in good, but not perfect shape — I may end up with a final product that’s not, well perfect. But, on the plus side, it is on its way to being finished.
And it’s already something I’m enormously proud of.
Plus, its completion will also free up some space for me to move onto my next project.
So long perfect, hello good, hello done!
