The Best Advice I Was Given as a New Writer: Done Is Better Than Perfect
You can’t edit writing that isn’t written.
My writing career began with a blog. My own blog. I was the only writer, editor and publisher. No one told me what to write or how to write it, and no one chopped it down with edits and revisions. My words flowed freely and quickly as I composed and published posts almost daily.
That blog led to a paying job that included multiple editors, supervisors, editorial meetings, brainstorming sessions and, my biggest mental block, deadlines. I was no longer my own boss with my own editorial calendar. And my words were no longer flowing.
My first few weeks on the job, my managing editor frequently checked in on my progress on essays I had either pitched or she had assigned to me. I didn’t want to admit to her that I spent a large portion of my days staring at a blank screen or deleting more words than I saved, but I had to offer her a reason for why I wasn’t finishing my work in a timely manner, why my productivity wasn’t what I had promised when I was hired.
And that reason was that I felt a new overwhelming need for perfection.
My blog had been laid back and casual. I published when I felt like publishing. My posts often started with random thoughts in my head and followed an unpredictable path to land on an ending even I hadn’t expected. Very little editing was performed on those posts before I deemed them acceptable and shared them with readers.
But from day one of my new job, my drafts were met with questions and suggestions, and my work was published with altered headlines and edited bodies. I understood the suggestions and the edits and the need for them. However, I couldn’t help but feel paranoid about my writing imperfections whenever I sat down to write. With each piece I wrote, I analyzed everything from my words choices, my sentence structures, my phrasing, wondering if they failed to live up to the standards expected of me.
With that level of self-scrutiny, of course I wasn’t getting my writing done.
I think my managing editor figured out my issue before I did. During one of our weekly meetings, as we discussed what I was working on, I admitted that I hadn’t yet finished it because I was still trying to fine-tune exactly what I wanted the piece to say to our readers. I was trying to make it perfect.
“Do you know what a wise writer once told me?” she said. “Done is better than perfect.”
She said she didn’t need me to file a perfect essay because there’s no such thing. She just needed me to finish it.
Just like that, with those five words of wisdom, my words started flowing again. I started meeting deadlines. I stopped worrying about the edits that may or may not happen. I pitched ideas even if they seemed silly, and I accepted challenging assignments even if I was nervous about the topic or my interviewing and reporting abilities. I rediscovered my voice and the rhythm I once had on my blog by letting go of my fear of imperfection.
My goal for every first draft I wrote became simply finishing.
Thinking about completing a piece rather than crafting the perfect words didn’t mean I abandoned editing and revising before filing a story. In fact, it probably caused me to edit and revise more than I was accustomed to because I often needed to scribble down several paragraphs of garbage before I found my groove. But I didn’t mind going back and tweaking my work a few times because, as my managing editor’s lesson reminded me, you can’t edit writing that isn’t written.
Years have passed, but I’ve never forgotten that advice. Whether I’m writing an article for my job, working on a freelance essay to pitch or shooting for a word count goal on my Work in Progress, I still sit down sometimes to stare at a hopeful white screen and an idea in my brain just itching to come out, and for the life of me I can’t figure out where to begin. I can’t formulate the perfect words.
That’s when I remind myself that done is better than perfect. And that’s when the words flow.
