Balancing Energy and Craft

Mihaly Csikszcntmihalyi famously introduced the notion of 'flow' as related to creativity, fulfillment, and similar positive and productive states.  

According this way of looking at things, flow requires you to be engaged in a challenging activity, chipping away at it, making progress and being fully absorbed.  There is also a 'dance as though no one is watching' quality to it to a certain point, and then good feedback at spots along the way.  The sweet spot is somewhere between anxiety and boredom.

When my Writing Group suggested I keep writing the story, and not bother yet to 'fix' the 'head hopping' problem identified earlier, they were speaking from their combined considerable experience - that capturing the 'flow' moments, when the story is popping but not perfect, is usually much more important than stopping 'now' to tidy up some structural issues that usually can be fixed later.

I am not, at least not now, a 'good writing is the universe flowing through your fingers' kind of guy.  But, I will say this, to stop while the story is flowing and you're feeling good about it, and you're excited requires a very very (avoid adverbs, but still) good reason.

There is the story of the good writer who after years has not yet submitted her book for publication but just keeps fixing it and fixing it,.  To do that is to shortchange yourself and deny a slice of the world the pleasure of reading your story.

Strike while the iron is hot.  Carpe deum and so forth.