Most writers I’ve talked to, feel like their writing is imperfect. They feel like they’re failing in some way. They feel like the words they write just aren’t good enough.

As I’ve talked to more writers, I’ve realized most of the time the root of these feelings of wanting everything to be perfect… is fear.

Honestly, that’s been one of my biggest struggles as a writer. Fear of imperfection. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of failure.

Can you relate to those feelings?

If you’ve had similar thoughts in your own writing journey, please read on. I promise you’ll be encouraged by the time you get to the end 😉

Stop Worrying About things being Perfect…

As I’ve continued to write blogposts and books, this is what I’ve noticed. When you put your words out into the world anyway – pushing past the fear and resistance – most people will root for you. They will encourage you to keep going, to take a risk and try something new.

Of course, there will be the naysayers and those who don’t really get what you’re doing. But that’s okay. Just let them be.

Instead focus on those people who will encourage and root for you.

The biggest thing to remember: Stop worrying about things being perfect. Learn that good, is good enough.

Instead realize that just the fact that you are putting work into the world, regularly working on your craft, putting the time and effort into becoming a better writer and putting your work into the world, means you’re already doing amazing things!

This means that you are already far ahead of most people that keep saying over and over, one day I’ll write a book. 

So, please don’t shoot for perfection in your writing. Rather, let doing your work and sharing it with the world, be your goal.

Let’s choose to let go of the fear of judgement and the fear of people hating us or our work because they might not think it’s quite good enough.

As writers who love to share our stories with the world, let us choose to put out our best work. But let’s choose not going to wait until we feel it’s perfect to share it with the world.

Here’s what I’ve been learning. You’ll get better as a writer, with time. You’ll get better as you put more work out into the world. You’ll get better as you keep studying the craft of writing.

As you continue to write and self-publish your book, write a blogpost, or write other work to share with others, you’ll continue to stop, readjust, fix what wasn’t right and then you’re going to be even better next time.

I’ve learned that as you keep writing and putting more work into the world, the fear subsides.

It’s like a pattern that we as writers follow over and over again: You put more work out there, you learn from that, then you get better. Rinse. Repeat.

What you get used to, is continuing to push past the fear of not putting perfect work into the world.

I’ve noticed that it helps writers to make a commitment. So let’s choose to: 

• stop worrying so much about perfect. Let’s kill that nasty creature called perfection…
• work on getting over the fear of not having all ‘your ducks in a row’ before you hit publish.
• not let ourselves be stopped in our tracks by letting procrastination take over(perfection’s twin sister), when we’re unsure of our work.
• keep writing and taking steps forward, even when our writing feels like it’s not good enough.

It’s our time to choose – you and me both- to take our writing seriously. (Honestly, these words are as much for me to hear, as it is to encourage you).

It’s your time to not let the fear of imperfection stop us from writing. It’s your time to get ruthless with your writing career. It’s your time to finish your stories and put them out into the world, for readers who can’t wait to read them.

Most of all, it’s your time to embrace who you are as a writer… imperfections and all. Your words, and how you tell your stories – from your worldview, experiences and your personality – is uniquely one-of-a-kind. And that’s a beautiful thing.

So as you write your story today, remember this:

“The one thing that you have, that nobody else has, is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write, draw, build, play, dance and live as only you can.” Neil Gaiman

 

Have you felt resistance – like fear, self-doubt, insecurity – as you write? How do you push past it to write? Please share your thoughts in the comments… I would love to learn from you 🙂