"Leave well enough alone when alone it works well enough." Sorry, no can do, Graham. I do not "suffer" from perfectionism. I revel in it. ha ha ha. Revising / editing is the most fun part of writing to me. I over-edit, I know that, and my over-editing does not always achieve what I hope it will, but I just love playing with words, finding the exact right word. I edit right up to the last minute before posting, and, if the truth be told, sometimes I go back and edit AFTER a piece has been posted. sigh...
Absolutely, there are times when you want to keep editing, keep polishing! Having fun with the words is certainly one of them. JD Salinger, Stanley Kubrick, and others demonstrate the upside, too.
(And yes, I've edited posts after they've gone live, too!)
Perfectionism has both good and bad aspects to it. For me, I found I was wasting too much time on some passages that ultimately didn't improve it. Plus, fretting away on those changes were a symptom of something else, including perfectionism, lack of confidence, not knowing where to go next, and other issues.
So if something needs polishing, I still polish away!
But if it doesn't need polishing, then these are the steps I'm trying to take to break myself from the other, self-destructive things that could be going on...
Oh yes, I am a perfectionist ... and a compulsive editor. Reading previous pages before going onwards, and unable to stop changing, polishing as I go. I'm a little better/faster with the articles and blog posts, I don't agonize on those so much, but I will trash an entire piece and start from scratch if it doesn't sound right. I never throw away so radically when I write a short story or I'm working on a book.
Me too, M.E. I find my academic writing, essay writing, etc. is straight forward requiring little editing. ( I tell them what I'm going to say, I say it, and then I tell them what I said, basically.) But fiction? It goes on and on. A very different animal.
The only difference is, I *have* started rewriting novels from the beginning. I don't "throw away" the previous one per se. Normally, I'll go back and blend things I like from both. I do it mostly as a way to kick-start the ol' creative brain box again.
Kind of like when I'm trying to get a screw back into a fiddly little space but it's just not going and my fingers are cramping and the thing I used to prop the other thing is slipping away and I just can seem to get the stupid Philips head to the screw (and why aren't I using a Robertson anyway? because that's what they're for), and then I drop the whole thing, swear, walk away, and come back fresh.
Great piece, Graham! I finally realized over the past year or two that I'm a perfectionist, and I am seeing more and more the ways it robs me of time and energy (re-writing comments like this umpteen times...), and the impact on my relationships - to others and myself. This is my year of embracing good-enough-ness. (And I don't care if that's not a real word. It's perfect.)
Good-enough-ness (noun) - A state of being in which something may not be perfect in any empirical sense, but in which it is good enough; fit for the purpose at hand. Often used in contexts when time is of the essence.
"Leave well enough alone when alone it works well enough." Sorry, no can do, Graham. I do not "suffer" from perfectionism. I revel in it. ha ha ha. Revising / editing is the most fun part of writing to me. I over-edit, I know that, and my over-editing does not always achieve what I hope it will, but I just love playing with words, finding the exact right word. I edit right up to the last minute before posting, and, if the truth be told, sometimes I go back and edit AFTER a piece has been posted. sigh...
Absolutely, there are times when you want to keep editing, keep polishing! Having fun with the words is certainly one of them. JD Salinger, Stanley Kubrick, and others demonstrate the upside, too.
(And yes, I've edited posts after they've gone live, too!)
Perfectionism has both good and bad aspects to it. For me, I found I was wasting too much time on some passages that ultimately didn't improve it. Plus, fretting away on those changes were a symptom of something else, including perfectionism, lack of confidence, not knowing where to go next, and other issues.
So if something needs polishing, I still polish away!
But if it doesn't need polishing, then these are the steps I'm trying to take to break myself from the other, self-destructive things that could be going on...
Good plan.☺️
Oh yes, I am a perfectionist ... and a compulsive editor. Reading previous pages before going onwards, and unable to stop changing, polishing as I go. I'm a little better/faster with the articles and blog posts, I don't agonize on those so much, but I will trash an entire piece and start from scratch if it doesn't sound right. I never throw away so radically when I write a short story or I'm working on a book.
Me too, M.E. I find my academic writing, essay writing, etc. is straight forward requiring little editing. ( I tell them what I'm going to say, I say it, and then I tell them what I said, basically.) But fiction? It goes on and on. A very different animal.
Sounds like we have similar symptoms!
The only difference is, I *have* started rewriting novels from the beginning. I don't "throw away" the previous one per se. Normally, I'll go back and blend things I like from both. I do it mostly as a way to kick-start the ol' creative brain box again.
Kind of like when I'm trying to get a screw back into a fiddly little space but it's just not going and my fingers are cramping and the thing I used to prop the other thing is slipping away and I just can seem to get the stupid Philips head to the screw (and why aren't I using a Robertson anyway? because that's what they're for), and then I drop the whole thing, swear, walk away, and come back fresh.
Not *exactly* like that. But kinda...
Great piece, Graham! I finally realized over the past year or two that I'm a perfectionist, and I am seeing more and more the ways it robs me of time and energy (re-writing comments like this umpteen times...), and the impact on my relationships - to others and myself. This is my year of embracing good-enough-ness. (And I don't care if that's not a real word. It's perfect.)
Good-enough-ness (noun) - A state of being in which something may not be perfect in any empirical sense, but in which it is good enough; fit for the purpose at hand. Often used in contexts when time is of the essence.
There. It's a word now! (And I love it...)