October 18, 2012

Dear <<First Name>>:

Welcome to another edition of the life [simplified] letter.

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Readers of the life [simplified] letter are the best. Each week, I receive comments and encouragement to keep writing. Even when I'm struggling to think of something to say, I keep going so I can connect again with such a great group people.

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Perfectionism

The enemy of "good enough"

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault. ~ John Henry Newman

A few eagle-eyed readers of the life [simplified] letter have pointed out spelling or grammar mistakes in my published letters. Unfortunately, I can't go back to a published letter and correct these mistakes.

Knowing that I sometimes publish letters that have mistakes drives the perfectionist in me crazy. I spend I great deal of time working on the writing and rewriting of these letters. I will review and revise a typical letter between six and seven times. I should be able to pick up all the errors. However, as any editor or proofreader knows, authors seldom recognize their own mistakes. An author is too close to the material to be objective.

If my goal in writing these letters were to achieve a perfect letter every week, I doubt I would ever publish one.

When I re-read a letter, I find errors or I wish that I had constructed a paragraph with more clarity. Some of the letters are better than others in hind sight. In fact, most of my first drafts of writing are blithering garbage: too many ideas, poor construction, sloppy sentences, spelling mistakes. Much of what I write will never see the light of day in a published letter or on my website. However, if I don't produce heaps of garbage, I also don’t produce the tiny gems that later emerge as good letters. These gems undergo a great deal of cleaning and refining, but even then, there is still some dirt that remains on the final product.

In order to keep writing, I just accept that I will never be perfect. In order to keep publishing, I just know that I sometimes publish letters or blog posts with errors. In order to keep learning, I just believe that mistakes are part of the learning process. I don't let my perfectionism stand in the way of "good enough."

Your life [simplified]

Are you a perfectionist? How do you keep your perfectionist tendencies at bay in order to be productive?

Please send me your comments.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Catherine

P.S. Check out my letter archives if you are interested in reading back issues.