The Paralysis of Perfection

I’ve wanted to write this post for at least the past two weeks. There was only one problem: I didn’t have the perfect opening sentence. Actually there were several problems, but they all amounted to one thing: The idea wasn’t perfect yet. And so the post remained unwritten.

This is what happens to a lot of my ideas. That opening flash is brilliant and wonderfully exciting, but the details are hazy, the execution halfhearted, and the flash fizzles. Why? Because I want everything to be perfect. This is why I have a novel whose opening chapter I have rewritten probably a dozen times. The novel remains unfinished. (I think I was on chapter three or four the last time I fizzled. I still have hope though. Next year, chapter five!) Perfection is a laudable goal, but sometimes it is stifling, paralyzing. Sometimes the pursuit of perfection leads to the accomplishment of nothing. If you’ve ever stared at a blank page for hours waiting for just the right words to come to you, you’ll understand what I mean.

I know I’m not alone in my paralysis. I frequently hear from writers who have written pretty good books, writers who think they might be ready to work with an editor, to look for an agent or publisher, to finally see their work in print. Then they change their minds. “The book just isn’t good enough,” they say. “I need to do one more draft.” I would bet that “one more draft” becomes two, three or four more drafts of a work that may never see the light of day.

Now I’m not about to stop trying to perfect my writing and editing (or anything else I do), and I wouldn’t advise anyone else to stop trying to improve their work. Lately, however, I’ve realized that I accomplish more in the real world if I just forge ahead and do things, regardless of how imperfect the results may be. So, in the past year I’ve written a children’s book (just one more draft and then I’m going to publish—I swear) and started a blog full of imperfect writing. I’ve learned that I don’t have to be perfect to do good work or to live a good life; sometimes just doing the best I can at that moment is enough. (And I never did think of the perfect opening line for this post, so please accept my imperfect but worthy attempt.)