While reading forums and discussion boards on the topic of craft I often come across questions by aspiring authors (like us) regarding when do we, as authors, know when the book is “perfect”.

To me there is no such a thing as perfection. As the saying goes, you can become excellent in your craft, yes, but just like people, books can be liked and disliked solely based on the readers preference, likes and dislikes. I believe in writing the story with the purpose of achieving that sense of sheer satisfaction for a job well done. 

Of course you still have to develop your voice and craft, write what you love, correct your typos and grammar, but in the end the story will be compelling or weak, hit the nerve or not, based on the reader's personal experiences.

It is human nature.

I tend to see the process of writing a book as a blob of clay. Authors slap the shapeless blob on a slab and use tools, or their own hands, to mold it into what they think it should look like—the image that plays and teases their minds. The more crafty and experienced they get, the clearer to the sculpture they create becomes to the viewer/spectator.

In that sense, I am lucky that Cecilia and I use our combined tools and hands to mold the same blob of clay into something our readers appreciate and enjoy. Thankfully, we also (seem to) share a brain which means our sculptures don't end up like a 3D bad mix of Picasso and Dali.

We have developed a fluent system to go from CH1 to the beloved THE END and, following the system, we are able to move forward steadily, ping-ponging and snowflaking the chapters between us until the chapter "feels" done to both of us, and at that point we do a first editing pass through it. We tackle each chapter with the same care. Once we finish the whole story we go back and re-read/edit the whole manuscript again (and again) and, at that point with the entire story's perspective in mind, we move things around, delete scenes not needed and tighten the plot, making sure our facts are checked and timelines are intact.

I believe the key point is not to get attached to the first chapters as you write them. Move forward on your outline (if you have one), until you have told the story as a whole, then feel free to go back and change things if needed to make it achieve the sense of completion you, as an author, will take from the work.

Sláinte.