Writing Tips: Perfection Isn’t Everything

On By Kari Lynn MIn Writing!!!

Hello fellow writers, and welcome back to my blog, where, today, we’re going to cover this very, very, very, very, VERY important topic… “perfection.”

And, as you can tell by the title, I’m also going to prove to you that perfection IS NOT everything. I mean, it is certainly “something”… but, yeah, it’s not everything.

First… Well, What Is Perfection?

Yeah, we could probably spend all day just defining what perfection actually is. Because, of course, the dictionary definition is one thing… but, in practice, the idea of “perfection” varies person to person, writer to writer.

So, for starters, I’m going to give you a generalized definition in, pretty much, my own words, though it’s based on a few different official dictionary entries…

Perfection is the state of flawlessness. Synonyms may include excellence, faultlessness, and even supreme maturity… whatever that is.

Now, in writing, perfection can obviously be seen as… well, a myriad of different things. And, like I said, this can and will vary from reader to reader and writer to writer.

For example, some people may think that a “perfect” piece of writing is simply free of grammatical errors while some others may think that the “perfect” piece is one that’s got the most engaging plot line. And, while the rules of grammar are pretty cut and dry… what makes a plot truly engaging is not as black and white.

Now, How Do We Make Our Writing Perfect?

Listen up, writers–I’m about to blow your mind. Ready, ready?

Because… there is no such thing as perfect writing.

Yeah, that might have burst your bubble, but I think you just deserve to know the truth. At least, the truth according to me, which is what really counts… right, guys? Eh?

Now, anyway, let’s explain that bold (both figuratively and literally–I mean, it is in boldface font…) statement.

As we already know, perfection can mean something different to every single living and, probably, deceased person. And, if there is hardly even one definition of perfection that everyone can agree upon, then there definitely isn’t any one definition of perfect writing that everyone can agree with. And… with no one definition to go along with, how do we know what true “perfect” writing is?

You can also look at things this way: to be truly perfect by dictionary definition, something has to be completely void of absolutely any faults. However… in writing, absolutely faultless pieces are the most boring ones. I mean, really, think about it.

And, if something is actually quite boring to read… then wouldn’t the boringness factor make it very imperfect?

Which, yeah, that can get pretty confusing pretty quick, so… just trust me when I say that perfect writing does not exist, and, even if it did, you don’t want your writing to be perfect(ly boring)!

But… What About Quality Writing?

Now, make no mistake about this… while perfect writing does not exist, quality writing still very much does.

And, of course, I’m not here to tell you what kind of writing quality you should be chasing, but I’m just figuring that, if you’re reading this post right now, you’re probably interested in making your writing the best quality you possibly can. And that, my literary friends, is what we’re looking for…

So, while I advise you to never, ever, ever try to make your writing “perfect”… I still want to encourage you to make your writing glow with good quality. And you can do that by following some general good writing guidelines, such as…

However, and I’m going to emphasize this a couple more times by the end of this post, do not let the idea of ‘quality’ in your writing overwhelm you.

Because Great Writing Comes… When the Writer Has Fun

And, please, do not skip reading this section!

Now, let me tell you a little story. And, please, point out every flaw in it while you do so, if you’d like, to prove my point further.

Once upon a time, there was a nice young lassie who liked to write. She would write all the time, even when there were other things that she probably should have been doing instead, like math homework. But math homework is boring anyway, so maybe it was a good thing that she was having more fun writing… especially since she would later go on to make a career of her writing.

One day, though, she woke up and felt a strange feeling in the back of her throat. It was kind of like gagging, but it went away when she put her laptop away, so she went on and ate a family sized bag of potato chips. But then, when she tried to perform her daily writing ritual, the feeling returned.

The cycle of putting her laptop down to eat a jumbo bag of chips persisted for many more days. Actually, more like weeks… well, okay, months. Or, um… maybe it was, like, a year… or two…

And, yeah, that’s the end of the story.

Because, fellow writers, the main character of that tale was actually yours truly, me, and… well, I’ll just own up to it–I’ve kind of stopped writing for a long, long time… and it’s all because I got wrapped up in the dreaded, never-ending chase of perfection.

But, today, I’m going to take all the advice I’ve given you all for myself, too, and I’m going to just go on and finish that little story while I’m at it…

Eventually, the lass ran out of cash money for potato chips (well after she switched from name-brand ones to the generic grocery store ones to save what pennies she had left…), and she found her dusty laptop hiding in the corner of her bedroom.

With a sigh, and then a cough to get the crusted lumps of salt out of her lungs, she picked it up… and she swallowed back that familiar urge to gag up her last fried potato lunch. And then, in one swoop of a finger, she opened a fresh white Word document (er, actually, more like a black document because she preferred to use dark mode, but she forgot to include this minor detail).

And then, of course, she cracked her knuckles and just decided to type without any pestering thoughts of perfection.

There, now, that feels more like a happy ending, doesn’t it?

So… Have Fun without Perfection, Writers!

Now, here’s today’s real message…

When you let go of the idea of “perfection,” your writing is going to eventually come across as funner (or more fun, whatever) to your future readers.

So, while we can and should strive to make our writing as good as we personally can, we also need to step back every once in a while and remember that we can’t make it perfect, so don’t worry about it!

And, as you could probably tell with the shortened memoir I wrote above, I have, too, struggled with this. I’ve only just recently realized that I’ve let too much time go by without writing the books I love just because there’s been this looming idea of “perfection is everything” stuck in my head. But, when you find yourself chasing after something that doesn’t exist (very much UNLIKE Bigfoot, by the way), you’re going to get yourself stuck in one place with nowhere to go.

Now, that’s all I have for you guys, today. Let me know what you think of this whole idea of “writing perfection”… and, maybe, if you have any requests for a future Writing Tips post!

–Kari

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