I'm sorry, but this is awesome. Big fan of the dark side. Big fan of the light side, too. And dare I say, I think there's enough room for both sides. Great stuff, Andy.
Perfectionism doesn’t so much keep me from writing — not anymore — as it makes writing and especially revision endless. I have trouble crossing the gap between working on something and feeling ready to put it out into the world and let anyone see it. Launching my ‘stack, in fact, was largely about crossing this gap so that, at long last, I could just be done with writing my first complete novel, which I’d been at for nearly a decade. Just put it out, finally, and let the chips fall where they may!
I’ll be looking forward to more of this freeform stuff!
Very relatable. I would guess most of us fiction writers could stand to be less perfectionistic, especially about our early drafts. Trying to "just write" over "just right" is what brought me to Substack in the first place, and the side benefit has been to find I'm not alone in struggles like the one you tackle here. Good stuff, keep on writing those wrongs.
It may be imperfect, it may be uncomfortable, it may even - gods forbid - get you cast by "...some sweaty bean bag person in a dim crevasse of the internet... as the antagonist in their personal tragicomedy." (Oh, how I loved that line! An awesomely creepy story plot idea, methinks!). At any rate, I liked this, I enjoyed reading about the person behind the stories, especially when he turns out to be so refreshingly human. In my humble opinion, you're already pretty good at sticking a fork in your eye... I just hope it didn't hurt too much!
I'm sorry, but this is awesome. Big fan of the dark side. Big fan of the light side, too. And dare I say, I think there's enough room for both sides. Great stuff, Andy.
Thank you very much 🙏
Gray side for the win.
Cool. Keep doing it, Andy!
Perfectionism doesn’t so much keep me from writing — not anymore — as it makes writing and especially revision endless. I have trouble crossing the gap between working on something and feeling ready to put it out into the world and let anyone see it. Launching my ‘stack, in fact, was largely about crossing this gap so that, at long last, I could just be done with writing my first complete novel, which I’d been at for nearly a decade. Just put it out, finally, and let the chips fall where they may!
I’ll be looking forward to more of this freeform stuff!
🙏 Thank you.
And well done. 👏
I love this. More of this, please! (Also: I love the illustration)
Thank you, M.P. 🙏
There will be more. Turns out I have a lot of opinions.
I look forward to them, you seem to have very good opinions.
Very relatable. I would guess most of us fiction writers could stand to be less perfectionistic, especially about our early drafts. Trying to "just write" over "just right" is what brought me to Substack in the first place, and the side benefit has been to find I'm not alone in struggles like the one you tackle here. Good stuff, keep on writing those wrongs.
Thank you 🙏
Yes, I think we serve ourselves poorly aiming for perfection.
I love this. I'm all for public brain dumping. Gives me stuff to chew on throught the day. I hope you continue!
Thank you 🙏
I shall.
It may be imperfect, it may be uncomfortable, it may even - gods forbid - get you cast by "...some sweaty bean bag person in a dim crevasse of the internet... as the antagonist in their personal tragicomedy." (Oh, how I loved that line! An awesomely creepy story plot idea, methinks!). At any rate, I liked this, I enjoyed reading about the person behind the stories, especially when he turns out to be so refreshingly human. In my humble opinion, you're already pretty good at sticking a fork in your eye... I just hope it didn't hurt too much!
Thank you very much, Jeannine 🙏
Haha 😆
Hopefully both.