You know, the whole thing about perfectionism. The perfectionism is very dangerous. Because of course if your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything. Because doing anything results in…it’s actually kind of tragic because you sacrifice how gorgeous and perfect it is in your head for what it really is. And there were a couple of years where I really struggled with that.
§ David Foster Wallace
I don’t recall which one — Plato, Aristotle, some other guy — but one of the Greeks had the idea that perfection was just a matter of how well something was fulfilling its purpose. We had to discuss this at length in class 🙂 The idea, boiled down, is that a chair is perfect according to what you want it do: support your weight, keep your bottom comfortable for the duration you’re in it, not wreck your spine, etc. You may want it to match your decor (or not). If a chair meets your checklist, it’s perfect.
Similarly, if, in the mantra of a TV character, you set out to write a “taut, sexy, thriller,” and readers report that the story was “taut, sexy, and thrilling” then it’s perfect. It’s perfect even if you didn’t describe people or settings very well, and the dialogue lacks a certain je ne sais quoi: if you accomplished what you set out to do, the story is perfect.
There is a such thing as making the perfect the enemy of the good, of course. But I think it all boils down to what your goals are, and what’s sensibly on your checklist. A bridge is perfect if it gets you across it. It might be awesome if the bridge’s supports could resist ramming from hippos, but if hippopatomi don’t live in the particular river where you’re putting the bridge, then hippo-resistance is not necessary. Just build the bridge, and go across.
I could go for this version of perfect, but it’s too slippery a slope to be useful in the fight against actual perfectionism. Perfectionism is never a benevolent dictator.
The Greek notion does require everyone to be real about what they’re seeking, true. And “mission creep” — insisting on not building a bridge to cross the Rhine until you can make it withstand hippos that live in the Nile — is a slope a lot of people will slide down. This is where it helps to have a friend on standby who can talk you down from various ledges 😉
There is no good side to perfectionism. I know some will argue that there is, but I’ve come to believe wholeheartedly that perfectionism is destructive in all its forms. Destruction hiding behind a pretty facade.
🙂
Ha! Perfect timing as I try to straighten out some things in my latest book, they’re good but not quite ‘there’ as I keep trying to get it all to mesh …