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Perfectionist?

K

kingferret53

A duel well fought..
I have a problem. I am a perfectionist. I constantly erase my work after becoming infuriated with it.

As such, I have a fanfiction currently 6 years into the works, with no more than a page written. (a page that's about to be erased...)

So, my question is:

Are you a perfectionist?

How do you overcome such an obstacle?

What problems do you have writing?

How do you overcome your problems?

Hopefully there isn't another thread like this, seeing as I didn't see one, and this is a real problem that is greatly hindering my work.

Help?
 
I'm a little bit of a perfectionist by nature, but I just do my best not to let it carry over to my writing. I write a chapter, and when I reach the end, I seal it off and say right, it's done. I'll give it a quick read over for spelling and grammar, but I resist the urge to edit sentences and paragraphs to things that might seem more natural.

I don't tend to get that soon after writing, actually. I get it when I look back at stuff I wrote over a month ago. I was reading the early chapters of Champion Game on ff.net today and I found myself banging my head on the wall because of numerous instances of poor wording, awkward syntax and wooden dialogue. I could go back and fix it - and I really want to - but I know that doing so will use up valuable time I could be using to write further chapters. It's hard, but I just make myself ignore those mistakes unless it's something like a missed question mark that I can just edit in quickly.

Once the fic's done, I'm pretty sure I'll be happy to go back and edit heavily, but until then I post chapters just as they originally appear, without fluffing around too much.

So long story short, I clamp down on my inner editor and only let her out on a tight leash. I try to make my writing as good as I can the first time around, and I can go back and make it better later.
 
Haha, I can't blame you. Posting your work gets tough sometimes, especially since you're pretty much putting it up for goodness knows how many people to check out and judge.

In a way, I'm a perfectionist too, believe it or not. (I say "believe it or not" because my story is still riddled with tiny errors here and there -- mostly typos.) It's why I stress out a lot over schoolwork and dig deep into stories in every review I write. For the former, I don't like submitting assignments unless I know they're done to the best of my ability (even if I end up shrugging it off at the end), and for the latter, things I think are errors just jump out at me, even if they're minor.

The way I see it, though, when it comes to fanfiction communities, everyone's here to learn on one level or another. Absolutely nobody's perfect here. It just depends on what your skill level is, pretty much. Even in published media, not every book is perfectly edited because, in the end, the editing team's just a bunch of human beings too. (This is, incidentally, why certain books exist that a lot of people think just shouldn't have been published. Not naming names, but you probably get what I mean.) Of course, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to improve and put out something that reflects your skill level, but it does mean you shouldn't drive yourself crazy over it. That's what your reviewers are there for, basically.

So when it comes to overcoming that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that says my chapter could be better, I just go ahead and write, proofread as well as I can, and post. You just have to push yourself into doing it and remind yourself that it's okay because your audience won't hate you for putting out something that isn't amazingly written on godly levels.

Unless, of course, you decide to be on the opposite end of the spectrum and just post something completely unreadable. But you'd pretty much have to be blowing off half the rules of grammar and spelling, and considering the fact that you're a perfectionist, I get the feeling that's just not something you'd be doing.

Anyway, point is, relax, have fun, and just remember that it's okay if your story isn't absolutely 100% perfect in every way.

Edit: Oh hey, MW! Looks like you ninja'd me for once. :P I think you deserve a cookie and a moment to dance.
 
I'm a perfectionist all the way, but here's something that never fails me. I sit at my computer and just type. I don't even stop for grammatical errors, I just type whatever comes to mind. When I'm finished, I go back through the work and correct things. Finally I read it for what it is and I'm done. Writing is bad when you put too much thought into it.
 
Thanks for all the advice! Do you guys have any problems that you need help with? Really hoping this turns into a help thread for all writers. Regardless of their problem.
 
JX Valentine said:
The way I see it, though, when it comes to fanfiction communities, everyone's here to learn on one level or another. Absolutely nobody's perfect here. It just depends on what your skill level is, pretty much. Even in published media, not every book is perfectly edited because, in the end, the editing team's just a bunch of human beings too. (This is, incidentally, why certain books exist that a lot of people think just shouldn't have been published. Not naming names, but you probably get what I mean.) Of course, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to improve and put out something that reflects your skill level, but it does mean you shouldn't drive yourself crazy over it. That's what your reviewers are there for, basically.

So when it comes to overcoming that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that says my chapter could be better, I just go ahead and write, proofread as well as I can, and post. You just have to push yourself into doing it and remind yourself that it's okay because your audience won't hate you for putting out something that isn't amazingly written on godly levels.
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I agree with this completely.

I had chapters and chapters of stories on Word that I'd been hesitant to post because I felt they could be better, but at the end of the day I just said 'ah, screw it' and posted them anyway.

Now I only hold them back so I have more time to write in between posts - right now I have about 4 chapters of Heroic Potential waiting to be posted, but I'm not posting them until Christmas Break starts so I can finally get back to updating regularly.

Plus, the main audience for that fic is on the Yugioh forums at Pojo, and the standards there are much lower than they are here, so I feel alot less pressure when I finally submit my stuff. ^_^;
 
my dad is a perfectionist and it really gets on my nerves sometimes because he always has me help him fix something that dosent need fixing
 
In my case, I wouldn't worry about it being perfect and I'd edit my chapters if I want something changed. After all, each chapter we post isn't set in stone. There's an edit button for a reason. The entire fic is a work in progress, including the chapters that are already posted.
 
kingferret53 said:
Are you a perfectionist?
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I think I might be. I don't fret over every little thing in my work, but I will go back and correct mistakes immediately when I see them, even months after it was uploaded. (I'm in the middle of it right now.) In fact, I haven't been very happy with my chapters, there's a lot I know could have had more work done, and I know they're there, I just don't know how to really fix it. However, I've had positive feedback, so either my readers aren't noticing the mistakes because they're engrossed in the reading, or they have noticed something I haven't where they really don't see anything wrong with it.

I honestly don't really pay attention to myself when I'm writing, so when I catch something, it's usually sometime after it's done. Which can be a problem, since like I said, I'm not fully aware of what's going on in the story, so whatever thought had gone through my head at the time is mostly gone out the window. Thankfully, there's inspiration.

What problems do you have writing?
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Just getting my muse in check for the most part, especially when it comes to certain scenes that I'm not a fan of. But, like they say, the show must go on. So, to help boost it up, I just read over some parts of the story, find mood-fitting music, and pretty much force myself to just write what comes to my head. If I'm lucky, I get back into writing full-time... if you want to call it that. Otherwise, I have to struggle with it for another month or two when I really, really want to get my creative juices a-flowing.
 
Kutie Pie said:
Just getting my muse in check for the most part, especially when it comes to certain scenes that I'm not a fan of. But, like they say, the show must go on. So, to help boost it up, I just read over some parts of the story, find mood-fitting music, and pretty much force myself to just write what comes to my head. If I'm lucky, I get back into writing full-time... if you want to call it that. Otherwise, I have to struggle with it for another month or two when I really, really want to get my creative juices a-flowing.
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My muse is a problem too. What really sucks is when I get inspired...I either got to go to work or my girlfriend suddenly decides she wants to cuddle. No, that's not a code-word for anything. She literally wants to just lay down and cuddle. Doesn't seem to understand I really HAVE to be doing SOMETHING.

Getting a wee bit off topic.

Music helps a lot. I also find reading other works, watching tv I find interesting (or related to the subject), drawing, working on other things...also help. I hope this helps you out some too. :]
 
kingferret53 said:
My muse is a problem too. What really sucks is when I get inspired...I either got to go to work or my girlfriend suddenly decides she wants to cuddle. No, that's not a code-word for anything. She literally wants to just lay down and cuddle. Doesn't seem to understand I really HAVE to be doing SOMETHING.

Getting a wee bit off topic.
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Oh, I know that feeling. I honestly can't tell you how many times I have finally found a ray of inspiration come into my head, and then a minute later, I have a phone call, or my brothers or parents and grandmother come in to interrupt me, or remind me of homework (since it's a habit of mine to put it off), and so many other moments. It's almost like something is trying its hardest to keep me from finishing.

Music helps a lot. I also find reading other works, watching tv I find interesting (or related to the subject), drawing, working on other things...also help. I hope this helps you out some too. :]
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Oh, most definitely, but I try hard to avoid the TV in case I end up re-writing a scene XD. Though there have been... cases I found incorporate themes from certain movies or TV shows into my story... I think chapter fifteen is the most obvious...

For a personal experience, I find that going to church and listening to talks has given me inspiration, most likely because of the subject matter I'm writing. It's helped me out a lot the past year while writing this, and that's something I'm thankful for. So even if my muse bails out for a day or two, it manages to follow me to church, and take to heart anything that caught my attention that day.

But that is just my personal thing, not that it hasn't happened to other people before, but everyone's different.
 
Is there a general help thread on these forums for aspiring authors and fanfic writers?
 
treeko's awesomeness said:
Here you go.
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I mean, one where if someone is like: "hey, would it make more sense if I write this like this, or like this?".

Or like, I need help, I'm stuck with writer's block, this is what I got so far *insert summary*, any ideas where I could go with this?

Or even, "I am trying to find a way to start my fanfic/novel, this is the idea I have and this is what I have so far", and ppl can give ideas and stuff.

Stuff like that. Just a help thread for ppl who need specific help, lol, if not, I wanna make one. Or someone make one...
 
Well, with plot ideas/getting feedback about your story concepts, there's always the plot bunny thread.

For everything else, it depends. I'd imagine small things that would end up having short answers (like "do you use a comma before or after quotation marks") could go in a single "simple questions" kind of thread, but larger issues like "how does this passage look" or "I need help with characterization" would probably be best in their own threads because those would generate lengthier discussions (meaning it'd be messy to do it in one thread).
 
Think Psychic would be willing to help is here with making these threads?
 
kingferret53 said:
Think Psychic would be willing to help is here with making these threads?
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We've already got a fic ideas thread, and if you mean the larger issues threads, then it's really best if the people who have questions like that to make their own. Usually, larger issues have specifics and lengthy discussions attached to them, so you can't really create threads specific for characterization help and whatnot. (Threads like that have a tendency to go unused in writing communities anyway.)

With the simple issues thread, you could always VM/PM Psychic herself to hammer out details, but before you do, you'll want to clarify what a simple issue actually is, if that makes sense.
 
For me, I find only posting one chapter every friday or saturday helps. I build up a buffer, currently at about 4 chapters, and then when friday comes around, I open the file, edit the chapter that I haven't looked at in a while, and post it.

Obviously, this won't work for everyone, because not everyone builds a buffer. It seems mist people post right away. But since I started this, I've seen my posted stuff steadily improve.
 
kingferret53 said:
Think Psychic would be willing to help is here with making these threads?
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You can always just ask me. I don't bite. (Except on full moons...)

A general help thread has never really been necessary, in part because a lot of times people want help or advice, there are enough opinions and types of advice that it can often become a discussion for people to engage in, and that's always fun. If you'd like to discuss it further, I'd rather take it to VM/PM instead of SPAMing up the thread. :>

On that note, since the thread title is "Perfection," let's please stick to that topic here.


As for myself, I used to get weird OCD tendencies like that. I vaguely remember putting off posting fics because I kept worrying there was more I could do to improve them. Thankfully, reviewers are there to help and editing in enabled on these forums, so if it's not perfect, it's not the end of the world.

I'm more concerned with making sure that whatever I post at least looks polished. Anything you post should look presentable and have as few errors as possible, whether you're presenting to a teacher or an online community. Either way, I know I can still improve on the way I do things, which I guess is what to strive for. Instead of seeing it as an attempt at perfection, see it as an attempt to do the best you can, and learn how to improve.

~Psychic
 
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