The Slippery Slope of Perfectionism
As I rewrote the beginning sentence of my WIP (work in progress) for the jillionth time, I realized that I was striving for the perfect opening hook instead of moving on with the story.
The need for perfection can stymie all of us.
The dictionary defines PERFECTION two ways:
- a quality, trait, or feature of the highest degree of excellence
- the highest degree of proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art
Creating something perfect is not a bad goal—until that need leads to perfectionism where you regard anything short of perfect as unacceptable.
According to Psychologytoday.com, perfectionists regard life as an endless report card on accomplishments or looks, which is a fast track to unhappiness, depression, and eating disorders.
Perfectionists focus on avoiding failure and miss all the joy of learning from mistakes.
Sadly, it’s easy to slip into the perfection trap. Fear of a lengthy revision letter brought out my desire to produce a perfect opening. All I ended up doing was road-blocking myself.
This Hemingway quote is a great reminder for writers when the slippery slope of perfectionism threatens.
Image by Michael Schwarzenberger Pixabay.com 453796
Writer or not, maybe the quote can help when the slippery slope of perfectionism threatens.