3 Tips To Battle Perfectionism - a guest post by Audrey Caylin

   Hey, y'all - guess who I have here at Scattered Scribblings today? The epic Audrey Caylin has agreed to do a post on how to battle perfectionism, and you guys are going to love it. So I'll go ahead and step aside so that you can read her wonderful words ;).

   *exit Savannah*

Even if they don’t get writers’ block, enjoy editing, and are absolutely joyful about rewrites, there is one thing I believe all writers suffer from:

Perfectionism.

Do you know a writer who says they adore their own writing and always have? Probably not (but if you do, please tell me who they are so I can contact them and ask them for their secrets xD). At one time or another, the monster of perfectionism strikes, and while some can battle it with a little help, others it cripples until they can’t stand to even think about their own work.

I can’t say that I’ve overcome perfectionism when it comes to my writing. I still cringe and groan and headdesk when I read my clunky dialogue, bland characters, and positively lame plot twists. Around and around all the criticism goes in my head, but always with the message “it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough.”

As this was happening to me the other day, I suddenly stopped and asked “who is this not good enough for? Me? Someone else? Who?”

And there I found three tactics that can be used in the battle against perfectionism, three tactics I’d like to share with you today.

To identify which one will help you the most, start by asking who your work is not good enough for.


1. Is Your Work Not Good Enough For Yourself?

Well, yeah, of course, you might be thinking. Of course my work isn’t good enough for me. I have good taste and my own writing isn’t living up to my standards.

Key word: my.

That means that other people could have said your work is good enough, anyone from a friend to a critiquer to an editor. Yet, in your mind, it is never good enough for you.

So ask yourself this question: who is going to be reading this novel of yours once it’s published?

Family. Friends. People you don’t know. But rarely is your own novel going to end up on your TBR.

See a pattern? Your writing isn’t going to be for you in the long run. You are not going to be the one reading it and reviewing it and being inspired by it. You are going to be the one writing more books, or editing other books, or maybe not writing at all. But if you wrote that book so you could write a “perfect book,” it will never work. You will never be able to completely satisfy yourself with your own work.

We are naturally blind to our own faults, and oftentimes our own virtues as well. We cannot see ourselves clearly, and therefore are not the best judges of whether or not our books are “perfect.” Sure, self-editing is great, but in the end, you should get a second opinion, someone who isn’t so closely knitted with your novel that they can’t evaluate it accurately.

Point is—you cannot and need not be the final judge on whether your book is really “good enough.”

2. Is Your Work Not Good Enough For Someone Else?

Having your work criticized by a friend or beta reader is probably the hardest thing there is. We’re alright with the brutal words when they come from ourselves, but they sting when they come from someone else. We either lash out in defense, or sink into a dark hole of saying no one likes our writing so we should quit.

But remember:

1) this person may have no idea what they’re talking about. If they read mainly classics and they say your plot moves way too quickly…um, what do they know about the pacing of modern YA sci-fi novels? While other opinions are good, remember who the person is who is criticizing you. Do they know anything about writing, or do they seldom pick up one book a year?

2) that’s just their opinion. No book is going to be loved by every reader. What you love, someone else might hate, and vice versa. If a single person says your writing is terrible, there could be ten others who say it’s great.

That being said, if you get a lot of feedback from a lot of people who say you need improvements (if every single person meanly bashes you, look for some new friends :P), then you should probably look at improving.

3. Is Your Work Not Good Enough For A Professional?

I can’t speak from experience on this point, as I’ve never submitted to an agent or editor before. But I do know that some of the above applies to this. Some books and agents just aren’t a good match. Goodness, just look at J.K. Rowling! Everyone said her books were terrible…and she became a best-seller.

Also remember that maybe your book isn’t meant to be published right now. Perhaps the rejection is just so you can re-evaluate what you’ve written and make it ten times better.


But What If You’ve Just Gotten A Ton Of Negative Feedback (possibly from your inner critic) And Are On The Edge Of Despair?


STOP LISTENING TO WHAT THEY SAY BECAUSE SOMEONE IN THE WOLRD LIKES
YOUR WRITING. If you are a writer and you work hard, someone in the world is going to need your writing, even if it’s just one person.

But if you’re drowning in feedback and can’t stop looking at how far short your novel falls, the best thing you can do is put your head down and start taking small steps forward. Keep consistent. If you write a ton, you can’t help but get better. Have people who know you give encouragement. I firmly believe that even if you think your writing isn’t good enough, even if your friends and critiquers and professionals think it isn’t, if you love to write, there is one person out there somewhere who will love your writing and find it to be more than enough.

Finally, know that you’re not alone in this. Like I said, just about every writer struggles with perfectionism. Encourage. Inspire. Uplift. And when that despair comes knocking, use these tactics to identify the source and put those negative thoughts away (or into a character’s head to improve your conflict ;)


<3
audrey caylin

do you struggle with perfection in your own story?
how do you battle it?
feel free to chat with Audrey in the comments!

 

Stories Are Remembered

   So we're taking a smol pause in the colorful and crazy blogoversary bash for a short post about something a little more serious.

   Once upon a time, my Bible study leader said something to me that I never forgot. It wasn't during one of her lessons, and it wasn't during a deep discussion. It was almost more of a passing comment, but it stuck in my brain and has never left ...

   
   I'd helped teach one of the lessons for her Bible study one day, and I'd used a passage from a story to illustrate one of my points. The next week, when we were discussing how it had gone, she mentioned that she liked how I'd used the story. She said that even if people went home and forgot what the lesson was about, they'd probably remember the story, because people remember stories.

   People remember stories.

   And we, as writers, have the power to write those stories. We have that power in our fingers, in our brains, in the ideas that we come up with in the middle of the night. We can write things that will touch people - things that they will remember. 

   Think of some of your favorites books and series. The ones that made you sit in awed silence after you finished them, because you have to process what you just read. Are you going to remember that book? Obviously. And we can write stories like this! Stories that people will have swimming in their head long after they finish them, stories that will lodge into people's hearts and probably never leave. Stories that can mean something.

   That's what I want to do.

 
   I want to write a story with deep messages and strong characters and worlds that are both beautiful and broken. I want to write a story that will touch people that I may never get to meet. A story that brings hope. I want to write a story that will be remembered. But more than that, I want to write a story that is worth being remembered.   

   I don't know how long it will take me to meet that goal. Maybe my whole life. But I'm going to keep trying, because I want to write a story that's worth being remembered. Because this world needs more stories that are worth being remembered. 

   What about you?  

~ Savannah Grace

what about you?

A Bookshelf Scavenger Vlog

   Ariel and I haven't done a vlog since July? Shameful.

   ... well, here we are, terribly late and finally bringing you another!

   I wanted to do something bookish, but a bookshelf tour wasn't feeling right. So I browsed through some tags I've seen and ended up landing on the bookshelf scavenger tag, which seemed perfect! Have fun watching me and Ariel goof off talk about books ;).  

   Ze links I mentioned ... 

Evangeline's blog

The giveaway of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland

The writing contest (There's only 12 days left to enter!)

   I hope y'all enjoyed that! I love love loved playing scavenger hunt with my own bookshelf, it was tons of fun. And if you guys decide to give this tag a shot in vlog-form on your own blog (I hereby tag all of you to do the thing), give me the link so I can check it out! I hope the rest of your September is epic, bookdragons <3.  

~ Savannah Grace

what's something on your bookshelf that is not a book?