Voice of the Opressor

I heard from my editor at Midnight Ink. She liked my revision. Phew!
Some revision advice I received from my very wise and very seasoned agent: Dear girl, don't be such a perfectionist. You'll make everybody crazy.
And when you revise, remember what I say. Don't overdo it. There are no perfect stories.
Try and make it perfect, and you'll make everybody crazy. And it won't be a better story.
And then in case I missed the everybody-crazy part, she repeated: you'll make yourself crazy.
Hard advice to take on a first-time author's very first revision. Someone who wants to be perfect.
Annie Lamott agrees with my agent. She says perfectionism is the voice of the opressor.
Two very smart women, Annie Lamott and my agent.
I did much less revising than I initially envisioned, going for quality instead of quantity. When I sent it off, after my kind readers assured me and reassured me ad infinitum, I felt pretty good about it. And I think going at it with a lighter touch saved my story.
And it was about as perfect as I could make it at the time. That's good enough for me.