The Perfectionist Writer Problem
Do you enjoy writing but fear anyone ever seeing your words? A lot of perfectionist writers feel exactly that. This article will talk specifically to the perfectionist writer, and hopefully give him/her some helpful tips for overcoming perfectionism.
Some of you will think, “But, I want to be a perfectionist when it comes to writing!”
Perfectionism isn’t great. It’s a bad thing. Let’s talk about that first.
The Perfectionist Writer Problem: Why Being Perfect Is A Waste Of Time
Let’s think about two writers: Perfectionist Pete and Average Adam.
Perfectionist Pete is trying to create the best novel ever. Average Adam wants to make some money as a fiction writer.
Perfectionist Pete takes ten years to write a book. The first year involves planning, the second-through-fourth years include painstaking research. Years 5-8 are the writing, where he manages around 100 words of solid prose a day, and then he throws half of it away whilst editing as he goes along. Years 9-10 are probably wasted with more editing and going with a traditional publisher.
Average Adam follows my advice. He reckons that one day he’ll create a great novel, but hell, why not write some bad ones in the meantime? He acts like a pulp writer from back in the day, and gets home from his day job at 5.30. He writes a thousand words an hour, and in two weeks has written a first draft of his novel.
Then he does it again.
By the end of the year, he’s written ten novels, and they’re all up on Amazon.
Who earns more at the end of year one? It’s easy.
Who earns more at the end of years two-through-ten? Again, easy.
Let’s assume that Adam keeps up with his ten novels a year plan. Let’s also assume that Perfectionist Pete actually becomes a best-seller in ten years’ time.
Do you think Pete’s best seller will outsell Average Adam’s 100 novels?
The metaphor extends to any form of writing. For instance, copywriting. If you write one perfect sales letter, and one guy publishes a sales letter every single day whether they’re terrible or not, ask yourself these two questions:
- Who earns more?
- Who learns more?
I’ve written some pretty effective sales copy. Today I wrote a sales letter for a mattress company. If it’s as good as some other sales letters I’ve written, that company is guaranteed a return on the cost of that sales letter. However, to get to the point where I can outright say the previous sentence, I’ve written a couple of bad sales letters. I’ve written a whole host of average sales letters. I’m not sure I could write a good sales letter without having written the bad and average ones.
If you’re not feeling great about something you’re writing, don’t quit. Instead, just finish it and if it turns out it’s not a world-beater, then think of it as a step you’ve taken closer to that goal.
Don’t Confuse Procrastination With Perfectionism
The above framework assumes you’re actually a perfectionist. I’ve “waited” to create stuff in the past because I knew that I couldn’t do it justice.
Was I being a perfectionist? Not at all.
Perfectionism is when you have a piece of work and you can’t stop improving it. If this is you, then move on to the next section.
However, if you’re sat there in the “planning” stage, then you aren’t being a perfectionist, you’re procrastinating.
You can’t perfect your work until you’ve created it. Create your work and then think about making it better.
Constantly Move Forwards
Here’s a potentially ugly truth depending on your own personal psychology: You’re going to look back at the work you do now in the future.
You’re going to hate it. (Don’t quit though.)
The fact is, if you’re constantly learning and upgrading your skill set, you’re going to realise how terrible your previous work is. That’s not because it’s objectively bad, but because you’re getting better. That’s a great thing!
As long as you’re learning and improving, there is no point in being a perfectionist. Even if you get something perfect by your current standards, you’ll hate it in six months.
Conversely, if you create a piece of work and publish it and in ten years’ time it’s still your best piece of work, then chances are you haven’t been working hard enough at getting better.
Anonymous Is An Option: The Power Of The Burner Project
If you’re really concerned with the quality of your work, I recommend creating a pseudonym and publishing it under your assumed name. In other words, create a burner project.
I have another secret blog. I use it for exactly this reason: If I have a half-baked thought, then I’ll try and turn it into an article there. On that site, I don’t even bother writing in full sentences. I’m just throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks.
If I can salvage enough words for a full article, then I can tell I’ve got something worth looking into. This isn’t subject specific: I’ve literally got tech, religion and blanket reviews on that site. It’s just about getting out there and hitting publish.
Hit Publish, Think (Act) Later
Contrary to the advice of a million critics, academics and would-be writers, the truth is that getting over perfectionist writer tendencies is simply a case of hitting the publish button and worrying about it afterwards.
Luckily, we live in an era where you can do this. Once upon a time, writers were in a lot of trouble if they got it wrong: Print runs were only effective in their thousands, and so a spelling mistake meant 5,000 people would think you were an idiot. Or your publisher fired you. Or any other terrible deaths.
Now, if you’re writing a blog, you can edit your work later.
If you’re writing books and publishing them yourself, you can also edit them later.
That’s not to say don’t bother editing your work, but there’s no need to waste hundreds of hours seeking a needle in a haystack of a final spelling error.
Now you’ve read this article, get publishing.