If you’re a perfectionist – if you live with the reality of perfectionism long enough – you’ll realize the only way to win against perfectionism is never to surrender to it. If you surrender to it, you’ll accomplish little, if anything, but, if you fight it every single day, you just might make something. No, it might not be anything good, grand, or perfect, but it will be something, and it could be the very something that someone else needs.
Archives for February 2014
Write Right: Averse and Adverse
“Averse” and “adverse” actually mean the same thing. They both are words that mean “opposed” or “hostile.” The two words, however, can’t be used interchangeably because they are meant for different purposes.
What it Takes to be a Writer
What does it take to be a writer? It’s a simple, yet hard answer: hard work.
Do the Next Thing
I didn’t have a career. I just did the next thing on the list. – Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art”
Unless you absolutely, positively know what you’re meant to do at the age of five, you’ll find yourself on a meandering course. You may have a general sense of direction, but you probably won’t be sure of the way to get to your final destination. You’ll think about things like internships and entry-level positions, some of which will get you closer to where you’re trying to get and some of which will lead to dead-ends and course corrections.
Copy Editing Won’t Save Your Work
One of the final steps in preparing your work to be published is having it copy edited, which is to say that there are other steps. For example, your work needs to be revised. It needs to be read by beta readers, preferably ones who read critically. It needs to be read by an editor who will provide structural feedback.* It will then need to be revised according to the feedback and reception received. Then and only then is it ready to be hacked to pieces by the copy editor.
Do You Work in Your Pajamas?
Now that I work from home, an almost inevitable question arises: do I laze around in my pajamas all day? The answer is a resounding “no.” While I sometimes do get distracted by work mid-breakfast and end up working while still ensconced in pajamas (or workout clothes if the morning included a run and workout), my normal routine is to dress as though I’m heading into an actual office with a mostly casual dress code.