How do you write if you have a perfectionist personality flaw?

[Ilfen1]

I try and then every time I get to about a thousand words I get this overwhelming feeling that this thing I'm writing sucks, that I have no talent or original ideas.

But another part of me just wants to write to practice and get better.

Do you guys just tell yourself "I'm going to write X words today, and it doesn't matter if it's pure crap"? How do you let go of inhibitions?

 

[Omenainen]

For me it’s not the writing itself, but I can easily see myself getting stalled in the editing phase, endlessly chasing perfection. Weirdly what helps is that since English isn’t my primary language, I feel there’s some level of perfection I can’t reach no matter what I do, and then it’s easier to let go. I have consciously forced myself to let go once a story is finished and polished enough.

Would it help if you don’t think about publishing? Focus on finishing the story and see how it turns out.

 

[KeithD]

I don't approach writing with the attitude that it might be crap. There are ideas that pop up that I consider and eventually decide they won't pan out, but so far that's all happened in my brain while it's mulling everything over before I ever sit down at the computer to start working on a story.

 

[XerXesXu]

5* Tale.

I try and then every time I get to about a thousand words I get this overwhelming feeling that this thing I'm writing sucks, that I have no talent or original ideas.

But another part of me just wants to write to practice and get better.

Do you guys just tell yourself "I'm going to write X words today, and it doesn't matter if it's pure crap"? How do you let go of inhibitions?

A cautionary tale.

https://www.literotica.com/s/final-chapter

Old saying: 'Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good'.

 

[Rob_Howard]

I try and then every time I get to about a thousand words I get this overwhelming feeling that this thing I'm writing sucks, that I have no talent or original ideas.

But another part of me just wants to write to practice and get better.

Do you guys just tell yourself "I'm going to write X words today, and it doesn't matter if it's pure crap"? How do you let go of inhibitions?

When I'm done forming the beginning, middle, and end of my story in my mind, I actually tell myself that I'll write X no. of words today. It doesn't matter if it's utter crap. I have read in most of the writing advice online, that your first draft is always gonna be crap. Even if the first draft is just a 3,000 word short story.

Only when I have finished writing the end of the story, I check the quality of my writing. I reread it and then check the flow of the story, if the three acts make logical connect among them. After I'm happy with the plot and structure, I focus on the grammar and prose.

I guess here in Lit, you don't need to worry about having an original idea, as long as your story is entertaining and well written.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I don't set goals for myself as I know I'll miss them anyway. There are good days and bad days, I take them one at a time and eventually I finish what I stared. I really feels good to finish, even if it is crap.

 

[TadOverdon]

I .

But another part of me just wants to write to practice and get better.

Do you guys just tell yourself "I'm going to write X words today, and it doesn't matter if it's pure crap"?

IMHO that's the whole answer.

The good that can be said of perfectionism is that it often goes with an obsessive streak, which helps loads.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I try and then every time I get to about a thousand words I get this overwhelming feeling that this thing I'm writing sucks, that I have no talent or original ideas.

But another part of me just wants to write to practice and get better.

Do you guys just tell yourself "I'm going to write X words today, and it doesn't matter if it's pure crap"? How do you let go of inhibitions?

I don't set a word goal for myself, but maybe it works for other people.

Have you any experience in writing anything? For practice, I've been writing a series of short essays that, although not in exact chronological order, are sort of a memoir about my own life and about my family. Some of it consists of stories relatives told me of events that happened before I was born. I send these to my daughter to read. Usually, they are about 1,000 words.

I found that there was more interesting stuff that happened to me and my family than I had realized. I attach photos and videos at times, some of which are my own, and some of which I find online that illustrate something I am writing about.

Surely there must have been some events in your own life that you wish to explore. Write about some of those to flex your writing abilities. Don't worry about erotic fiction to start with perhaps. Maybe you will even create something that will fit into the Reviews and Essays section. I recently published an essay there about the doings on a strange college newspaper I was on years ago.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/the-past-is-a-foreign-country

So don't get hung up on erotic fiction if you are not in the mood for it. Write about something that interests you, no matter what. Maybe you can even publish it here or elsewhere. Getting the first thing published should inspire you to do more.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'm not a perfectionist, but I tend to hang up on wording, rewriting so clunky sentences over and over until I think it is just perfect. When I reread the thing, in the context of everything around it, I have to rewrite again.

Also, on my own writing, the write I publish here and elsewhere, I tend to do a lot of edit work as I go which slows down the process.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I am a perfectionist and a procrastinator. In order to actually get past those debilitating flaws and actually publish something on this site, I had to force myself to write something quickly, and then allowed myself only two passes for editing. I didn't know how difficult and time-consuming it is to edit something that is already on this site, but overall it worked out for me. If I hadn't done that for the first few submissions, it is likely I never would have gotten anything posted here.

Once I had a handful of stories on the site, I started getting feedback. I was also fortunate to have a pair of extremely skilled editors who reached out and offered their services. With each new story, my writing improved and I made fewer errors. Now I can look back and be astonished at just how much I got done, but if I hadn't forced myself to "hurry up, write something and post it!" none of it would have happened.

Stop focusing on the parts of your writing that bother you, and focus on what you do well. If character interaction and dialog are strengths for you, then include more of that in your writing. If descriptive detail is something you can do well, then add more of that.

Nobody expects your first entry on this site to be flawless. If you never finish anything and submit it, then nobody but you will ever see it. Give it your best shot, and see how readers react before you decide it's awful. It sounds like you are a much harsher critic of your own work than the majority of reader here will be.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I work on the principle that drafts are always crap. They're meant to be crap. So the important thing is to get them done.

Then that can form a scaffold for the good bits of the story, as I add and prune and edit.

My day job involves lots of writing and editing others' work, which has helped me internalise that a faulty skeleton is very helpful for everyone else to build on, so the same should work for my stories.

Setting my own time limits or using contest ones can be helpful in kicking me to actually put my story out there.

 

[mynameisben]

Sturgeon's Law: "Ninety percent of everything is crap."

If you are afraid of writing crap, then you are afraid of your own shadow. If you are afraid to kiss the girl, then you will never know the unlimited joy something like that can bring.


Ben

 

[Blind_Justice]

The important thing to do is WRITE. "You can't edit a blank page" is one of the fundamentals I go by. No idea who said that, but it's true. Write until you can't anymore, then save your work and take a break. A night, a few days, whatever works. Then come back wwell-rested and an open mind and re-read what you've written. Compare against your outline or general idea, rework as needed.

I'm incredibly perfectionistic, to the point of rewriting entire chapters several times until I'm happy with the results. Trouble is, at that pace I won't get anything published for ages. So I'm trying to temper my own perfectionism with the input of some volunteer beta readers I've built a decent rapport with. If they say "that's cool, leave it as is", I do just that. Works exceptionally well, my output over the last two and a half years has pretty decent scores and appreciative comments. The only thing missing is that damn Netflix deal.

 

[Bramblethorn]

It's an issue for me. At some point you just have to give yourself permission to suck: accept that your story will have flaws, but "not being posted" is a bigger flaw.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I guess here in Lit, you don't need to worry about having an original idea, as long as your story is entertaining and well written.

How can you define orginal idea? Every writing idea in world has been explored to death. All you can hope for is, a somewhat, unique well written presentation.

 

[Rob_Howard]

How can you define orginal idea? Every writing idea in world has been explored to death. All you can hope for is, a somewhat, unique well written presentation.

What I meant to say was that OP need not hesitate from writing a new story just because he/she seem to have an idea that's not original. Readers in Literotica won't stop reading a story just because the same idea has been repeated a hundred times before.

Even I write the same things that I read in Lit , just with an addition of my own flavours and perspectives.

It's really difficult to have an original idea. But there are some works that don't seem to have an alternative or inspiration prior to that. A good example is the short story 'All You Zombies', based on which the movie 'Predestination' was made starring Ethan Hawke. I'm yet to find another story or movie as convoluted as that.

 

[gunhilltrain]

What I meant to say was that OP need not hesitate from writing a new story just because he/she seem to have an idea that's not original. Readers in Literotica won't stop reading a story just because the same idea has been repeated a hundred times before.

Even I write the same things that I read in Lit , just with an addition of my own flavours and perspectives.

It's really difficult to have an original idea. But there are some works that don't seem to have an alternative or inspiration prior to that. A good example is the short story 'All You Zombies', based on which the movie 'Predestination' was made starring Ethan Hawke. I'm yet to find another story or movie as convoluted as that.

Don't think of it as something as something that has been done before, even if that is true of the basic plot line. Each writer can bring some unique bits to the setting, the characters, the dialogue.

Take he idea of an older woman seducing a younger man; The Graduate, among many others. I have several of those, including some with the same characters. Here's one where they are already lovers, but they play a game in which they pretend to meet for the first time. (They actually met when he was driving for a limo service and she was a passenger, another well-used trope.)

https://classic.literotica.com/s/holly-s-ferry-terminal-escapade

I wished it had scored better, but that's life. It even has a single typo in that I haven't gotten around to fix. (Maybe I will one of these days.) Yet the exact time period, the setting (it's in a real building), the way they play the game, and the two characters (especially Holly), are probably unlike any previous versions of the theme.

In other stories I mention where Holly went to college (Bryn Mawr), her ex-husband, her daughter, and even where she works (the Ford Foundation in New York). Those details I hope give a sense of her beyond just being a "mature woman."

 

[MillieDynamite]

What I meant to say was that OP need not hesitate from writing a new story just because he/she seem to have an idea that's not original. Readers in Literotica won't stop reading a story just because the same idea has been repeated a hundred times before.

Even I write the same things that I read in Lit , just with an addition of my own flavours and perspectives.

It's really difficult to have an original idea. But there are some works that don't seem to have an alternative or inspiration prior to that. A good example is the short story 'All You Zombies', based on which the movie 'Predestination' was made starring Ethan Hawke. I'm yet to find another story or movie as convoluted as that.

Ahh, I see

 

[Auden James]

I try and then every time I get to about a thousand words I get this overwhelming feeling that this thing I'm writing sucks, that I have no talent or original ideas.

Maybe because it is true and deep down you know it? Still, it does not mean that your (potential) readers will grasp this truth of yours too . . . So what is there to fear? That some stranger on the internet will unwittingly confirm what you—deep down—already know to be true? So what? He will not tell you anything you did not know already yourself!

Thus the real question is whether or not you really want to write (crap) fiction or rather do whatever. And only you can decide this question!

 

[gunhilltrain]

Maybe because it is true and deep down you know it? Still, it does not mean that your (potential) readers will grasp this truth of yours too . . . So what is there to fear? That some stranger on the internet will unwittingly confirm what you—deep down—already know to be true? So what? He will not tell you anything you did not know already yourself!

Thus the real question is whether or not you really want to write (crap) fiction or rather do whatever. And only you can decide this question!

I already told him that negative thinking about writing, or any other endeavor, is a bad idea. It's taken me decades to figure that out. Yes, one has to be realistic and accept (or reject!) feedback. But he hasn't even tried it yet. It might be an enlightening experiment for him.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think many, maybe most, writers experience this feeling. You have to decide whether you want to be a perfectionist or a writer. You can't be both. If you write, a lot of what you write will be crap. Then you have to edit it out of the story. That's just the way it is. You learn by doing, and by doing you expose yourself to crap and failure. There's no alternative.

Just write. Write a short story and see what happens. It probably won't be as bad as you think it will be, and it will feel great to have had something published. We've all experienced that.

 

[Fervid]

. . . I tend to hang up on wording, rewriting so clunky sentences over and over until I think it is just perfect. When I reread the thing, in the context of everything around it, I have to rewrite again.

That's me! But I enjoy it, and I don't think it's a bad thing. It feels like my fiction writing is gradually (very gradually) improving this way.

I have a decent background in spelling and grammar because of a good education and my day job, which involves lots of technical exposition. Developing a more informal, reader-friendly style is hard, though, so I edit, edit, edit. It slows me down. But it's useful and interesting, and FWIW I think it helps my scores here.

So I don't obsess about obsessing.

 

[MillieDynamite]

That's me! But I enjoy it, and I don't think it's a bad thing. It feels like my fiction writing is gradually (very gradually) improving this way.

I have a decent background in spelling and grammar because of a good education and my day job, which involves lots of technical exposition. Developing a more informal, reader-friendly style is hard, though, so I edit, edit, edit. It slows me down. But it's useful and interesting, and FWIW I think it helps my scores here.

So I don't obsess about obsessing.

Dyslexia is an issue for me. But I now have glasses that help with that. They have hair lines down them that prevent the numbers and letters from jumping around. My current ones are blue, I ordered red, or thought I did, but they are blue.

I got a late start in life with really learning English. Even I can see a ton of improvement from the trash I use to write. I have a long ways before I'm where I want to be.

Oh, God, I hear the song from Enterprise playing in my brain. We're streaming the series now, and the long way just triggered it.

"It's been a long road, Getting from there to here, It's been a long time, But my time is finally near."

Geeze how cool, I love it when a word or two triggers a song in my head.

 

[8letters]

I try and then every time I get to about a thousand words I get this overwhelming feeling that this thing I'm writing sucks, that I have no talent or original ideas.

But another part of me just wants to write to practice and get better.

Do you guys just tell yourself "I'm going to write X words today, and it doesn't matter if it's pure crap"? How do you let go of inhibitions?

I think I have something approaching a perfectionist approach to writing my stories. Mine developed after I had some success with my stories. My goal with every story is to have a 4.8 rating or better.

First off, the only way you're going to get good is to publish. That's where the rubber hits the road. Until then, you have no way of gauging whether writing is good or sucks. I learned a tremendous amount with my first few stories.

Writing for me doesn't bring out the perfectionist in me. I have enough experience that I have a good idea if the story premise will get a good rating. It's once the story is done that I really become a perfectionist. I want my story to error-free. No grammar mistakes, no misspellings, no inadvertently using of the wrong word, no important details left out, and no plot holes. I spend far longer editing my stories than writing them.

An important part of that drive for perfection is getting people to beta-read stories. I'm not going to notice all the flaws in my story by myself. My current work-in-progress is out for beta-reading now to 21 beta-readers. That's in addition to several beta-reads I had done while I was working on the story. What I'm looking for from beta-readers is to be a fresh set of eyes that point out where the story isn't achieving what I want it to achieve.

 

[gordo12]

A cautionary tale.

https://www.literotica.com/s/final-chapter

Old saying: 'Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good'.

Man, did that story hit me right square between the eyes. Guilty as charged. What a magnificent writer, though.

I try and then every time I get to about a thousand words I get this overwhelming feeling that this thing I'm writing sucks, that I have no talent or original ideas.

But another part of me just wants to write to practice and get better.

Do you guys just tell yourself "I'm going to write X words today, and it doesn't matter if it's pure crap"? How do you let go of inhibitions?

I started a story at the end of June. I got 3-4000 words into it and sat back thinking it sucked and was going nowhere. In spite of that, I persisted.

It's now at 10,000 and has taken a couple of interesting turns. I will complete it. Moreover, I think it may be book material and a starter novel for a series.

Don't let yourself get discouraged by early results. Or talk yourself out of finishing.