One check, then send

The second half of the method is what happens at the end. You've done the work within the time you gave it, and it meets the three or four lines you wrote down. The old routine would now begin. Here's what replaces it.

You do one check, and you do it properly. Then you send the work, and you don't open it again.

A proper check has a few features, and they come from the jobs I mentioned in chapter 11 where accuracy matters.

It follows a list that you wrote beforehand. For most written work, a list of five or six items covers nearly everything that could really embarrass you. Are the names spelt right? Are the numbers and dates correct, checked against the source? Does it answer what was asked? Is the attachment attached? Is it going to the right people? Is there anything in it I'd regret if it were forwarded? You can make your own list for your own kind of work. The list is what makes a check different from a pass. A pass is an open-ended search for anything that could be better. A check asks specific questions, each of which has an answer.

It's done after a gap. If you can, leave at least an hour between finishing and checking, or do it the next morning. After a gap you see what's on the page, and without one you tend to see what you meant to write.

It fixes faults and leaves preferences alone. During the check you'll see sentences you could phrase differently. Leave them. The question is never "could this be better", because the answer to that is always yes. The question is "is this wrong, or unclear to the reader". If it's neither, it stays.

And it happens once. When you reach the end of the list, the check is over. If you made changes, you can look at those changes. You don't go back to the top.

Then you send it, straight away and in the same sitting. Don't leave it in drafts overnight to see how you feel in the morning. You know how you'll feel in the morning, which is that it needs another pass.

After sending, don't reread it. This is a small rule, and it turns out to matter. Rereading sent work has no function, since you can't change it. All it does is give the wince another chance. You'll find a phrase you don't like, and spend an hour composing the apology you're never going to send. If a real error turns up later, someone will tell you, or you'll come across it, and you'll correct it as chapter 11 described.

The first few times you do this will be uncomfortable. I'd rather tell you that now than have you think something's gone wrong. You'll press send with the wince still going. For an hour or so you may feel exposed, as if you'd left the house without checking the door. That's the fear protesting at not being obeyed. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the work. It fades, usually within the day, and it's weaker the next time.

Treat the first month as an experiment, because your own evidence will persuade you better than my argument can. Keep a short record. For each piece you send at the line, note what you feared would happen, and then a week later note what did. Did anyone comment on the quality? Did anyone notice what you'd have fixed on the fourth pass? Did it do its job? After ten pieces, read the record through. I expect you'll find the feared reactions almost entirely absent. If the record shows that people really did notice, then your line is too low for that kind of work. Raise it a grade for that kind of work, and you'll have learned something the polishing could never have told you.

There's reason to think that this sort of change is possible, including for people with much more severe perfectionism than yours is likely to be. Samantha Lloyd and colleagues pooled eight studies of psychological treatments given to people with clinical levels of perfectionism or related disorders. Perfectionism scores fell substantially from before treatment to after, and so did symptoms of anxiety and depression. Eight studies isn't many, and comparing before with after is a weaker design than comparing with an untreated group. A book isn't a course of therapy either. Still, the finding fits what you'd expect if perfectionism is learned. With structured practice, people with severe perfectionism have been able to change.