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Sunday, April 18, 2021

P is for Perfection (or lack thereof) #atozchallenge


Are you a perfectionist? It can be both a good and a bad thing. Do you struggle with needing everything you do to be absolutely perfect, just so? Is it a driving force in your work, or does it keep you from writing? Do you keep endlessly tweaking your WIP, and not letting anyone read it until you think it's good enough?

If any of these things sound familiar, I have a challenge for you:

DO SOMETHING 'OKAY'. Not perfect. Just okay.

Write something imperfect. Show an unfinished story to a stranger. Publish a blog post that could probably use more editing. Take a leap. Not everything has to be perfect all the time. Give yourself permission to make mistakes. (It really is harder than it sounds.)

And if you are on the reader/commenter side of this thing, here are some things you can do to help:

1. Compliment specific things! It means a whole lot to writers to read compliments that go into detail.

2. Tell people what you want more of. More of that character. More of that kind of story. More of that fantasy world. It is a lot more inspiring than "constructive criticism." 

3. Don't message people with "I found a typo!" Just. Don't.

Happy writing, happy reading, happy blogging! :)

29 comments:

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Perfection is very hard to reach, so... I'm far from perfect and I know it (which is good, in my opinion) ;))
Quilting Patchwork & Appliqué

kaykuala said...

P - Perfection with Extraordinary Clout
A little creature but true to its desire to inflict sorrow

http://imagery77.blogspot.com/2021/04/prim-with-extraordinary-clout.html

Hank

Pooja Priyamvada said...

These are such crucial points Here from https://poojapriyamvada.blogspot.com/2021/04/parea-newnormal-a2z.html

Arti said...

"Give yourself permission to make mistakes. (It really is harder than it sounds.)" So true.
And thank you for the 3 points about how to comment:)
Happy writing to you too.

Frewin55 said...

I wrote today's post yesterday as I have to go to work early today so getting up just now to post it, I couldn't resist a few tweaks. However, seeing it in preview I was struck by how short it looked compared to some posts I have written, and for a subject where so much could be said, I don't know whether I am being brilliantly concise or just plain skimpy! I put it out there anyway...
https://how-would-you-know.blogspot.com/2021/04/p-is-for-politics-politics-and-pan.html

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

I want to apologize to all the WordPress blogs I use to visit, looks like my comments are not working... Hope to find the trouble and will come back soon :(

Srivalli Rekha said...

I do like to strive for perfection, but considering how the typos haunt me, well... I am okay with my work being okay and not perfect.
https://sri-lovenature.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-path-from-pattadakal-leads-to.html

nashvillecats2 said...

As the saying goes "Practice Makes Perfect". But not to stop trying and always do ones best.
Great "P" post.

Yvonne.

Pr@Gun said...

Perfection comes from practice, but agree not everything has to be perfect all the time, sometimes a Lil imperfectness helps too.


My post for alphabet P for #AtoZchallenge -
https://praguntatwa.com/mother-our-personal-groomer/

Crackerberries said...

I was really bummed that I couldn't find one mistake in your post for Perfect. You know what I do? If I make a mistake on my grocery list (say if the item falls out of the order that it is in the grocery store) I write the whole list over...is that OCD? I liked the post today, I wish it had been a little longer on how not to be such a perfectionist. I wrote about people ... they are a lot of fun. Hope everyone has a great day.
Cheers,
Crackerberries

Jayashree (pagesfromjayashree) said...

I am a perfectionist and I have to remind myself to let things go . Could be either in the way i execute something or my team or my kids ....
https://pagesfromjayashree.blogspot.com/2021/04/p-for-potion.html

Gonz said...

When the Planar Bridge was shown in the Inventor's Fair, most of the judges thought it was perfect... until they found out what a mastermind villain could use it for.

http://codexanathema.com/2021/04/19/p-is-for-planar-bridge/

Cathy Kennedy said...

It's funny you should mention perfection. Just before I came over, I noticed a couple of mistakes with today's post and I promptly took care of them. To say it's now perfect wouldn't be true. I'm sure there are mistakes left. You'll even find imperfections in my art but that's alright. I'm okay with it because I know I'm no where in the same league as other artists. I resolved myself to being comfortable where I am while allowing room to grow and I believe I have in the short time I've been illustrating. I know one, I love doodling and am so thankful to have rediscovered the thimble of talent I possess. :) I'm grateful for all who's stopped in this month to cheer me on! Happy A2Zing, folks!!

Pepe Le Pew & Penelope Pussycat Looney Tunes A-Z Art Sketch

Anne M Bray said...

Funny you should mention that. Today's shoe is the Perfectionist! https://repeatsamb.blogspot.com/2021/04/atozchallenge-2021-p-is-for.html

and
P is for Pastel: https://www.anne-m-bray.com/blog/167837/atozchallenge-2021-p-is-for-pastel

I think the A-Z Challenge helps one avoid perfectionism - daily deadlines!

Molly's Canopy said...

Done I is better than perfect — especially with 26 posts to write in just one month! Here’s my letter P post: https://mollyscanopy.com/2021/04/p-is-for-peg-my-mulitasking-mom-atozchallenge/

Linda Gardiner said...

Great P post. Perfectionism is way over rated, in fact why does it even exist? Your advice is spot on.
Pulp Paper & Pigment-My Fiber Art Blog

Dino said...

My P post for today: https://www.dpfinnie.com/2021/04/p-is-for-prince-philip.html

Weekends in Maine said...

I am a reformed perfectionist (mostly). I still edit and refine way more than I should but I've learned that finishing a project is better than making it perfect. Weekends In Maine

Trudy said...

I'm somewhat of a perfectionist but I'm striving to be more of a "good-enough-ist."

Today's post: Movies reflect human needs: Play

Trudy @ Reel Focus

Jamie said...

I do struggle with "if you're not going to do it well, make it the very best, then why do it at all?"
I am grateful when someone finds my typos (not from autocorrect, but in actual writing) because it gives me a chance to improve and shows they were paying attention to my words.

https://uniquelymaladjustedbutfun.blogspot.com/2021/04/p-is-for-phar-mor-atozchallenge.html

Today on my blog there's an accompanying graphic that shows the difference between a ^ and a 🔺️ because some people don't know what a triangle is. 😉

Gail M Baugniet - Author said...

Never had a problem with being a perfectionist. While aiming toward perfection, I more adhere to the tongue-in-cheek expression: "good enough for government work".

People who point out one typo or one missed end quote should be ignored (unless proofreading for someone who asked for this type of feedback.)
https://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com

Red said...

At least twice (maybe three times) during this challenge, I have successfully shared something I was less than proud of. Once I even deviated from my theme. It took remembering that the challenge is to write something for each letter, all month. MY challenge is to do flash fiction, but I met THE challenge by posting a regular post for the letter. Not my best moment, and it took some deciding, but yeah...

Perfection is the Devil!

Chapters From My Life said...

After bringing up a special needs child, I learned a new meaning of perfection.
Patience is the word which makes a lot of sense in my life.. here for letter P
https://www.chaptersfrommylife.com/2021/04/persistent-patience-empowers.html

Lindi Roze said...

This is so true and helpful. Unfortunately, I did let someone get under my skin when I was posting regularly on my blog. I started the blog with the mindset that I was going to get my creative juices flowing and just share my thought. I tried not to worry about perfection.
I did review it for content and ran a grammar and spelling program, but truly my focus was content. Until one day, a "follower" wrote and told me that I really needed to be more diligent with my work. Others came to my defense, as I was not careless by any means, but that feedback put a wrench in my confidence. I stopped posting regularly. Currently, I post so sporadically, I question why I keep the page open. I keep telling myself I will get back and do better, but here I am. Thanks for the post. All the best.

Jayden R. Vincente said...

It is so hard to let go of being perfect! Thanks for the reminder.

- Jayden Vincente
Erotic fiction author
https://jrvincente.com/a-to-z-2021/

2 gators said...

good points here I will definitely do an imperfect blog. Perfection is almost hard to let go but then I realize that there was only 1 perfect person and he died on the cross for me.

Today's post is on the Panda
https://heavygators.blogspot.com/2021/04/a-to-z-challenge-p-is-for-panda.html

Ronel Janse van Vuuren said...

Not doing everything perfectly is quite hard! I couldn't add some things to my Friday and Saturday blog posts this past weekend as we had no electricity and I just had to be okay with it being imperfect until I could finally fix everything. So hard!

Ronel visiting for the A-Z Challenge with an A-Z of Faerie: Paladin

zeltrack zeltrack said...

Deference to article author , some good entropy. blog rocket

mtom said...

i love to listen on audiobooks while travelling on a bus, i could learn a lot from it while travelling“ yale pioneer