When it comes to writing, whether it be creative or not, it can be daunting. I don’t mean daunting in the sense of being unable to start, though that has its own challenges. I’m talking about the stress your perfectionism can have on your imagination. I bet you weren’t expecting me to go this route but I am so buckle up!
This blog is going to cover self-talk, perfectionism and how both of these things can suck the fun and originality from your work. Creative writing should be challenging but not impossible so lets work on the problems that make it seem so intimidating.
Self-talk & Creative Writing
When it comes to self-talk about your own writing it’s best to be honest; Are you the type to constantly nitpick your work or are you able to write something, see the potential and move on? The answer to this question is more relevant than you probably think, so let me break it down.
As you write, it should be about getting what’s in your head down on paper. It’s the start of a great idea, but you can’t see it if you’re constantly stressing and tweaking as you’re writing it. Take a deep breath; you have plenty of time to go back and tweak that last sentence or rearrange your paragraph. If all you can do is see the problems in your writing you can’t appreciate the writing process and refine later; you’re first draft isn’t ever going to be perfect and it’s important to start drilling that into your perfectionist mindset.
Perfectionism is great for few things but writing isn’t one of them! You’re job as a writer is to get those unique thoughts and ideas down on paper; to cultivate new worlds, creatures and people! You can’t do that if you’re constantly stopping to try and fix every little flaw: every grammatical mistake, every punctation flaw and every cringy line of dialogue. You’re focusing on the wrong things at the wrong time and more than likely stopping your own creative flow! Be kind to yourself, allow room for mistakes and watch your writing flourish!
Perfectionism + Translating
I’m pretty open about my writing processes so I’ll be transparent and say my tendency to lean towards perfectionism kills my desire to write. Let’s use my collection of short horror stories as an example: I haven’t touched that collection in going on six months now. I found that everytime I attempt to write a scene out or plan out my characters I don’t end up liking where I end off, so I scrap everything and start over. This process repeats until my drive to record my thoughts is gone. Why would I want to keep writing stuff down if I’m ultimately going to delete it all later?
Have you ever thought how much further you’d get in your writing/drafting/idea process if you didn’t let your perfectionism take the wheel? How much less stressful and daunting the act of writing becomes? I sure have and the best way I found to “translate” my perfectionism over into my writing in a less critical and more constructive manner is by leaving notes.
Leaving notes at the end of my sentences when that little naggy perfectionism voice starts eating up my ideas allows me to set down my stressors. Notes can be picked up later while you move onto a scene that you haven’t started to pick apart. It’s a great way to remind yourself where you wanted to take the scene or the dialogue so you can pick it up when you aren’t going to be so critical. These notes can either be long and complex, simple one liners or a single word! Whatever will help remind you of the spark that made you want to write in the first place.
Telling Procrastination to Duck off
Besides writing notes at the end of your draft updates, I’m sure you can think of an alternative to shut up the procrastination monster. Have you tried questioning yourself in the middle of your self-critiscm episode? Sometimes you can rationalize your way out of deleting promising works in progress. Maybe taking a step back for meditation to help clear your mind is the best way to do it. Whatever method you find that works for you, I hope you remember to share it with your fellow writers! You’d be surprised what people have and haven’t thought about trying.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article and if you found it helpful please let me know in the comments below! Happy writing everyone!
