Writing Tip of the Week: Progress, Not Perfection
Perfection is a myth. It’s an unattainable metric that no one should measure themselves by. Striving for perfection can lead to stress and anxiety and negatively affect one’s creativity. It's a struggle we all face, especially in a world where social media bombards us with the perception of perfection. This can be overwhelming and lead to procrastination and possibly walking away from one’s creative goals.
It's time we strike perfection from our creative vocabulary and embrace a better term: PROGRESS.
Progress begins wherever you are as a writer. Whatever that baseline is, you'll improve as you write and continue to write. Improvement is a positive goal to reach for. It means you are becoming a stronger writer, a better writer, and a more confident writer.
This is the path you want to follow, where you keep at it and progress toward finishing that sentence, paragraph, chapter, and book. Then, you can progress to the editing and publishing phases.
If you structure your creative goals in terms of progression, not perfection, you are now in charge of your goals and the outcome of your work. It’s not some fantastical out-of-reach concept that does more harm than good.
Each time you sit down to write, whether 100 words or 1,000 words, you are making progress on whatever project you’re working on. If you get trapped in the perfection trap, you may never escape those 100 words, become frustrated, and stop writing.
Don’t let that happen.
Remember that every book, screenplay, play, or other creative endeavor didn’t look like the finished product when it was started. Professional creative people don’t aspire to perfection; they aim for progress. More words each day. A new chapter each day. A new scene each day. Eventually, the work is completed and gets to a point where it can be shown to others and experienced.
If authors like Stephen King were locked in a perfection loop, he might still be agonizing over Carrie today instead of being the author of over 77 books!
You don’t get to numbers like that by being a perfectionist. You do it by making progress each time you sit down to write.
Progress, Not Perfection.
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!
It's time we strike perfection from our creative vocabulary and embrace a better term: PROGRESS.
Progress begins wherever you are as a writer. Whatever that baseline is, you'll improve as you write and continue to write. Improvement is a positive goal to reach for. It means you are becoming a stronger writer, a better writer, and a more confident writer.
This is the path you want to follow, where you keep at it and progress toward finishing that sentence, paragraph, chapter, and book. Then, you can progress to the editing and publishing phases.
If you structure your creative goals in terms of progression, not perfection, you are now in charge of your goals and the outcome of your work. It’s not some fantastical out-of-reach concept that does more harm than good.
Each time you sit down to write, whether 100 words or 1,000 words, you are making progress on whatever project you’re working on. If you get trapped in the perfection trap, you may never escape those 100 words, become frustrated, and stop writing.
Don’t let that happen.
Remember that every book, screenplay, play, or other creative endeavor didn’t look like the finished product when it was started. Professional creative people don’t aspire to perfection; they aim for progress. More words each day. A new chapter each day. A new scene each day. Eventually, the work is completed and gets to a point where it can be shown to others and experienced.
If authors like Stephen King were locked in a perfection loop, he might still be agonizing over Carrie today instead of being the author of over 77 books!
You don’t get to numbers like that by being a perfectionist. You do it by making progress each time you sit down to write.
Progress, Not Perfection.
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!
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