Monday Writing Motivation: Writing to Perfection

caweyant (56)in #writing • 7 years ago

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.
― Margaret Atwood

This weekend I started watching The Handmaid's Tale, the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood's famous 30ish-year-old novel. I've actually never read the book, so I can't tell how closely the show follows the original story, but what I can say is that it's a very intriguing story right from the get-go. The production and cast are both great, as well, and I love the way they intertwine the story of the post-apocalyptic world with the story of the situation and events leading up to the situation Offred and her fellow Handmaids find themselves.

From a writing perspective, I've always found this quote from Atwood intriguing. Another related quote is: "The perfect is the enemy of the good." If you're sitting around waiting for the perfect idea, the perfect way to state the idea, and the perfect moment to release your idea into the world, then in the words of Malcolm Reynolds, "That's a long wait for a train don't come." Nothing is perfect, nor will it ever be.

The good news is that you don't need to have perfection before you write it down. All of the best writers go through multiple drafts, and sometimes the best stories are so heavily revised that they are almost unrecognizable when you look at them from the first idea to the finished product. Sometimes stories are even heavily revised after being printed, with second or third editions containing different ideas, plot points, characters, and more from the original. (This happened with The Hobbit, for example, although it is by far not the only story where that has happened.) Perfection isn't something that leaps from your head fully formed onto the page; perfection is something that you approach over time.

So pick up your pen or pencil or keyboard and start working towards your perfect story! You might not ever get there, but if you never start than you're guaranteed to never reach it!

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word – Margaret Atwood
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