I have never written the perfect article. There is no such thing. Even after editing an article umpteen times, I still find mistakes, or words, sentences, or pieces that just suck. That is why I truly believe that perfect is the enemy of good.
Even some of the best works in literary history were littered with inaccuracies. The challenge is how to put out something great when it is just not there.
Let it go! Perfect is not realistic or helpful
The key is that at some point we need to let go. You will never get it right. I don’t want to dissuade you from writing. Please do your best and be professional.
However, everyone has a version in his or her head of what he or she believes perfect content is. What you need to do is evaluate what your ideal audience wants and write content you think they will appreciate. As stated in Day 15, have someone edit it after you finish your edits.
Everyone makes mistakes. Mike Zielonka of Tuna Traffic told me how he once sent a message to his boss’s boss that misspelled bowl as bowels. He now owns a digital marketing agency. Life goes on!
That doesn’t mean what you’re writing should be high quality. Instead, focus on doing your best, and when you don’t have anything else to add, publish or send it.
The challenge we have as writers is that we beat ourselves up over and over again about the small stuff. As a famous little book once said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
We all make mistakes. Mary Jane Sanchez of WurkHub, a fantastic marketer I have known for years, told me a story about how she forgot to remove the standard Lorem Ipsum text on a website. Someone then asked her if she knew her site was in French. Oops!
Still, Mary Jane did not stop creating content for websites over something so trivial. She learned from the experience and went on to the next content piece. It is the best remedy for any error.
Finally, remember you are on a deadline when you write for business. It is not like writing a novel where you can do what you want. When you write content like a blog post, article, or website copy, you need to meet that deadline.
You might make mistakes, but you accomplished something monumental–you finished!
Quick Action Steps for Defeating Perfection
- When you finish writing, edit. When you finish editing, submit.
- Let go of the content you wrote.
- Focus entirely on the next assignment.
Note: This article on how perfect is the enemy of good is an excerpt from my book: Your Writing Partner (Available on Amazon).
