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Writer's pictureAndrew J Calvert

Progress over Perfection

WE haVE TO get started somewhere and too often we want what eever we create to be perfect, to say what we wnat exacly as we want, and tooo often that need pfor perfectin and knowing that we wont;at attain it prevents u d form starting

We forge tthat Evrey iteration is a polishing - a polishing of the idea, the chance to reflec on the words you use,t he rhythm they create the soft touch of punctuation on the page. You see every draft i create is full of werros and that to make it better I have to draft and eift, draft and edit again, over and over till I am happy (enought) withit to publish.


but the reason th this is to see how the first one looks - tough as anyt hing and deginitely not ready.


No wait, let's start again. This time by correcting the errors, backspacing over the typos and pausing to punctuate...



We have to get started somewhere and too often we want our first draft to be perfect, to say what we want exactly as it appears in our minds dimly appearing in the mist of the creative process. I don't think I've ever had a perfect first draft and that realization has been liberating as it allows me to start and keep going until I'm happy.


You see every iteration is a polishing - a polishing of the idea, the chance to reflect on the words you use, the rhythm they create in the readers' minds, the soft touch of punctuation on the page. You see every draft I create is full of errors and that to make it better I have to draft and edit, draft and edit again, over and over till I am happy (enough) with it to publish. But the errors won't stop me from having a go.


The master has failed more times than the student can imagine.

(I am not claiming to be a master, I am owning my failures and recognizing them as the lessons they are). Give yourself the permission to fail, learn and retry.

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