The Curse of Perfection
by Tripleguess
September 3, 2006
Writing is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to those who have none.
--Jules Renard
I (and, I suspect, many others) tend to go about creative pursuits with the wrong mindset.
First, I set an unreasonably high standard. Then I measure all creative efforts by it. If they don't, by my estimation, meet that standard, then my efforts get a negative score. Needless to say, this puts unnecessary pressure on the creative process and often discourages me from trying at all. If the final result isn't going to be "good enough," I don't want to bother.
It's time to rethink things. Set that mental standard to ground level. Now, no creative output equals negative or zero. Any creative output bumps the score up to positive. More creative effort equals a higher score, regardless of quality. So what if it's not very good the first time? I can always go back and rewrite it, redraw it, improve it. Some of my best stories started as a disjointed collection of scenes. Some of my best drawings started as midnight doodles. They wouldn't exist if I'd tried to "do my best" the first time. Lord of the Rings started with a single sentence about a hobbit who lived in a hole! What if Tolkien hadn't written that because it wasn't, well, "polished enough"?
Now, a word about feedback. It's nice to hear from others, and positive reviews often inspire me to write or draw something new. That's the way we humans work; we like to hear praise from others. We don't create in a vacuum. Naturally, some of the praise will be mixed, and I actually appreciate people pointing out areas in which they think I can improve. If they can help me better my work, they are my friend. Hence I make a point of thanking every reviewer whenever possible.
BUT, Jeffrey Scott was right -- some "constructive criticism" is just discouragement in disguise. It doesn't matter how smoothly it's worded; if a review boils down to "I wish you'd done it differently" (whatever that means) or better yet "I didn't like it" -- then ignore it! I have as much right to dismiss a review as the reviewer has to dislike my story, and am a firm adherent of the "Don't like? Don't read!" mindset. If someone doesn't like it, that's their opinion, and it should in no way, shape or form stop me from creating. Especially when I wrote it for free!
When I read a story I don't like, I remind myself that "Well, at least they tried. They didn't stay in the 'safe zone' of doing nothing. They rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty. They took risks instead of being an armchair critic."
Stop hesitating. Stop perfecting. Stop setting impossible standards. Most of all, stop hiding in the "safety zone" of not trying. Never mind that the result isn't always the best in the world. So what? It's something better -- it's yours.
Go do it.
Author's Note: I almost didn't write this because I didn't think it'd be good enough. Go me!