Better Published than perfect.

A couple of years ago, I found out, like a stroke of magic, that I could write. I put myself under the tutelage of a senior colleague back then, and I really only ever wrote one article then. Since then, I have gone on to write, and write, and write, and one thing I have noticed is that your perfect pieces do not always make it to the eyes of the public. Why? Because perfection is an illusion. Show me one perfect piece of writing, and I’ll show you something that could be tweaked to make it better, even if it means combing through the work over and over again.

Where does this realization leave us? It is quite simple, actually. Aim to be published, not perfect. What do I mean? Let’s take a look at what both terms mean.

What does it mean for your work to be perfect? Perfection, according to the dictionary, is a state where something cannot be improved upon. Sometimes, I get a bit scared when I reflect on that definition. Why would a person want something stagnant? Stagnation is my impression of perfection. You might think me crazy, but you would have to agree with me that when something cannot be improved upon, it remains static. I know this is a rude shock to your sensibilities and, while I am not sorry to bring this to your thoughts, I am sorry you have had to strive for perfection most of your life. The only being perfect without a drawback is God. Sometimes I wonder if it gets boring being God. Back on topic (I was about to trail off into a theistic monologue).
Besides its affiliation with stagnation, I think another problem perfection has is its inability to see the beauty in some seeming mistakes. Have you ever noticed that the most touching and beautiful poems are the imperfect ones, not the ones that try to perfect all the rules and come out like a slab of cement.

On the other hand, what does it mean to publish? To publish means to make information and literature available for the public to view. Basically, to put yourself out there. Many people get scared of publishing their work because they think it is imperfect. While this fear might be valid, you never really know until you do get published. No one who has waited for perfection before publishing has ever really improved.

The trick here is that the more you publish, the more you improve. What you should seek is an improvement, and improvement isn’t tied to waiting for one piece to get to maturity.

Now hold on before you jump on your keyboards to post everything and anything that comes to your mind. There is enough crappy work out there already, and you don’t want to add to that pile of junk, do you?

So here are a couple of easy ways to get good content out there, while avoiding the painful cycle of seeking perfection.

Edit. Once or twice is good enough, as long as you are not writing for something too professional.
Add an extra pair of eyes. Having a friend or two glances through your work could help you decide if you are ready to go live with that piece. Seek that extra eye.
Read. You only improve when you learn. The more you read good published works, the more you get the nuances in good published works.
Give yourself a time frame to publish. So the main reason many people do not get to publish is that they do not have a fixed time to publish. Infinite time equals no time at all.

Ooh well, I just want you to get yourself out there a little bit more and not wait for the perfect post to publish. Improvement, not perfection, will find you when you publish more.

Related posts:

This post was prompted by three things: 1) a mom meltdown with my teens this morning, 2) Joe Biden staying calm while Trump tried to dismantle his son’s reputation for not fitting the mould (of…

Concurso de Lightweight Contracts com US $ 21.000 em prêmios para estimular a integração de negócios com a plataforma Ardor O Ardor Online Hackathon 2018 é a sua chance de competir por prêmios…

Mengembara ke gunung putih Mencari telaga kian kau mulai mengetuk untuk mengetok jalan tol Jalur lokasi tak terkirakan Sejauh manakah akan kau berlayar Mencari ke cintaan alam yg telah di…