1. Use your editing eye. You have to. Yes, you could throw everything you've ever thought into that story, but should you? No. This is a lesson that applies to every creative discipline. You can always do more, and you can always do less. But there's a balance, and the only way to hit that balance is to experience your work from the outside and use your editing eye. The perk of this is that when you do it frequently, when you build a habit of self-critique, you become better at what you do. Hands down. Writing, music, painting, baking, whatever it is you