ABOUT HOLDING OURSELVES BACK

Saturday, September 15, 2018

lately I've been reoutining and rewriting my novel and let me just say, being a perfectionist has its good and bad points.

confession time: I research things TO. DEATH.
which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a rly bad thing. on one hand I feel like I've saved money and time with research, and on the other, maybe I've lost a lot of time and self experience. sometimes I feel like I'm always searching for the right answer, or the correct way. lol I'm not one to just jump into anything without knowing some facts first

and recently, with my novel in particular, I realized how much its been holding me back and why I can't let it anymore

I will not write a perfect novel. You will not. We won't. Perfection is not in us, and its not supposed to be.
but there's a line. I've been afraid because I know my novel won't be what I imagine it to be. but thats ok too. Sometimes, you just gotta go for stuff (wow is that hard for me to say or what).

you don't have to wait until your older or have more experience to do something bc you'll be "better at it". you have now. use now. Give yourself a chance to make mistakes bc mistakes aren't always bad things

I've been holding on to this for a long time -- demanding perfect of myself. I've let go with a lot of things; I create art more freely and let myself use my own imagination even if its not that great, i create my blog and write my posts and edit my photos how i like them, if I don't have time to write a blog post one week, I don't. its okay.

I think letting go of something is a lot of letting go of a lot of little things -- wow idek if that made any sense whatsoever lolol
close to perfect is sometimes ok (I mean, someone's gotta design those skyscrapers and make pleasingly round cookies c'mon people). Perfectionism is even okay and sometimes rly great, but not when it holds us back.

so I'm going to let go of this. I'm going to take the info I have, outline, and get writing this thing. I'm going to let myself write this novel no matter how wonderfully terrible it may turn out. basically, I'm gonna see what happens with this. lets not hold ourselves back

p.s. this topic applies to many things, not just novels <3

10 comments

  1. WHOA GIRL WE ARE TOTALLY TWINS. Like...WE POSTED ABOUT THIS ON THE EXACT SAME DAY XD
    but AMEN to all of this! Perfectionism is so...relentless, and it holds us back from so much, especially joy. Sometimes we just have to put our foot down and realize we've done all we can.
    FANTASTIC POST <3

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    1. I KNOWWW ITS SO CRAZY BUT AWESOME <3
      ughh such a true word "relentless". good points, girl. AND SO SAME TO UR POST <33

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  2. I've felt the exact same way about my novel, too. I totally agree that there's a line with perfectionism, but I also like how you said it can be good, too ("without us I don't think the world would be the same"...ha true!). This was definitely a reminder I needed!

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    1. such a struggle, right?? its FINALLY going better for me now that I'm just DOING it. and yes lol the world would probably be a scary place without us, and non perfectionists too *cough* XD so glad, girl <3

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  3. ...This post couldn't have come at a more perfect time!
    I'm reoutlining one of my older novels, while trying to brainstorm my novel for NaNoWriMo. (Great idea to do both at once, I know)
    I've been struggling so much with not getting things right, or not discovering necessary information about my plot or characters. Which, for me at least, is sometimes quite impossible before I've even written the thing.
    Perfectionism runs in my blood, but it's encouraging to know other people have to fight it too. :)
    Best of luck for you and your novel!

    - Deborah

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    1. aww I'm so glad!! and woooww girl you sound busy!! and yes, I'm reoutlining a novel too and that almost warrants the want for more perfection xP you've got this!! and girl, take my advice, once you stop and just DO it it'll be so much better. don't worry about your plot and characters too much. Yes, read, but also do. you have to put what you've read into action. and let me tell you, my novel has been going SO much better since I have. best of luck to you and your novel as well, Deborah!! you've got this <3

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  4. Yes yes yes. This is so true for so many things. And I'm so inspired how you and many others have such determination to write books!!! That's not up my alley but you inspire me none the less. <333

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    1. yeesss so much so. aww that is such a sweet thing to say!! yes I def love creating stories, and this one is particularly meaningful for me..so yes. thank you so much, Paige xxxxxxxxx

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  5. Wow! This post...<3 I totally can relate!
    -Brooklyne

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