Sometimes I post something that’s not really complete. I’ve probably edited it a few times, and if I wanted to I could wait another week to refine it, but I’m trying to practice movement. Not just with my body, but my writing. To not let something get stagnant and wait for the day when it’s perfectly ready to go. When is anything perfect, anyways?
After I post something I go back and take another look at it to make sure it reads well enough online. Usually, I find something that could stand scrubbing. Often I find a sentence that looks like it was written while I was interrupted by a phone call or a keyboard gremlin dancing the polka. That doesn’t make sense. So I clean it up, hit update, and move on.
It’s so easy to agonize over the writing, and don’t get me wrong – I certainly do. I love a well-crafted sentence the way a soccer player appreciates a well-designed play resulting in a goal. But when your goal is to win a championship, you need to string a lot more together than one brilliant attack. You need to take what you learned and let it assist you with your future work.
Avoiding Peril
That’s kind of how I see this site. A place to practice and forge my attack for the craft of writing. To learn what works, learn what doesn’t, and move with the learnings as oppose to lamenting the errors.
Creative pursuit often chases perfection to its peril. A beautiful imagining, without movement, eats itself until its nothing more than a spirit no one got the chance to meet. Is that the fate we want for our ideas, our paintings, our art? To let them squander in the abyss of our minds because there are some finishing touches they can benefit from, but we don’t exactly know what those touches are yet?
If you’re writing a book, as I am, you certainly want to take your time to refine it. I read through a chapter several times before feeling it’s “done,” and then go back and check it again. I read it out loud and when it sounds right to me, I have a friend or family member review it. But for the work in between? For the ideas that strike me as interesting or helpful, that can’t yet live in another medium? Well, they come here, delivered with no worry other than the concern to keep moving forward.
Movement is the key. Only through movement can something become more than a flash of light. More than a star that burned out before anyone knew it was there.
In Writing
I like to share thoughts on writing and the writing process here on this site. I see it as a way to solidify what I’m learning while giving insight into how things go. If you’re curious to read more, head over to In Writing.