It's a judgment call, really.
Saturday, January 1, 2011 at 6:14PM How do you know when something is finished? If you are the consumer it's usually pretty easy to tell. If you are the producer...eh, not so much.
Example 1: Consumer Brunhilda is building a model plane. She knows she is finished because the pieces are all gone, and she has completed all the instructions. And it looks like the picture. Producer Hans is designing a model plane kit. He knows he is finished when all the necessary pieces fit together properly and the instructions are clear and usable.
Example 2: Consumer Patty is cooking dinner. She knows when it is finished (in this case, "done" is a better word*), because either the recipe tells her so, or she tastes it and deems it ready. Producer Steve is creating a recipe from scratch. He knows it is finished when it tastes right...although taste is pretty subjective.
Example 3: Consumer Joe is reading a book. He knows when he is finished, because the book ends. Producer Erin is writing a book. She knows when she is finished, because...because...oh, man.
See? Do you see the dilemma here? The more subjective our product, the less able we are to be certain when it is finished.
I think that, with What Happened on Smith Street, I knew it was finished when two things happened: 1. I read it from start to finish and didn't roll my eyes at anything (at least not too much). 2. I couldn't stand the thought of reading it one more time.
This is useful data for me, because it will help me determine when On the Way to Someplace Else is finished. Or complete. Hmmm....
* As a former neighbor once cleverly shared with me, "Only things in the oven are done." We should use "finished" for everything else. I would add to this that we should never, ever use "completed" as an adjective. It is a verb, past tense. You would never say, "The Compleated** Works of William Shakespeare." Well, you might, but you'd sound awfully silly. To me, anyway. And that's super-important.***
** I wonder when we lost the "a" in "complete" and replaced it with a terminal "e."
*** Hold, please. "Completed" may be used as an adjective when describing a forward football pass that was caught by a receiver. On offense, of course. It's really not easy being me sometimes. So much clarification and elaboration required simply to get through my days.
Reader Comments (2)
You are hands-down the most grammatically correct person I know, and as a friend to many writers, that's really saying something! (and for the record, I almost spelled "grammatically" wrong if spell-check hadn't alerted me to the error, so I have no hope of going head-to-head with you in the grammar arena ... and now I'm rambling, so you see? It's really hopeless.)
Sigh. It ain't easy being me sometimes either. I'm so embarrassing!
But there is such enormous value in being understood. Grammatical solidarity! I think about that Stephen Frye video all the time, when I want to shriek over someone's well-intentioned effort to be correct by saying, "He gave a piece of cake to Taylor and I."
No, no, no! [That would be me, shrieking.] You wouldn't say, "He gave a piece of cake to I." Well, you shouldn't, anyway. But have you noticed that this has become the norm? So, when I say, quite correctly, "He gave a piece of cake to Taylor and me," (what, one piece--were we meant to share it?) I sound wrong. And I don't think I have to tell you how it troubles me to sound wrong, when I know that I am write*.
*I did that one on purpose. Hee hee hee! I'm off to find some cake now.... Even better, we have a few whoopee pies left from my birthday. Whoopee for whoopee pies!