This is a great post. There is alot of value added to getting feedback before the "proof-reading" stage. What is harder perhaps in this equation is finding the time, the person, and the structure to provide you this feedback. But it is in the "30% done stage" when even a small amount of astute input can have a huge productivity benefit. There is a real art to getting something in "good enough shape" to be interesting for the reviewer (ie, not wasting their time), and thought through enough so that the important tensions & dynamics are able to be shown in rough-hewn relief (ie, so the analysis is also useful to you). I'm a firm believer that this is a great place to have a mentor (or, if it fits your fancy better... a muse). And also successful people are often blessed with having this type of support infrastructure in place. It really helps to build depth into the work, in a way which is different from pure "hyper-focus". The can counter the trend toward narcissism and lessen the tendency to attribution error.