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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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THE DRIVE FOR PERFECTION
I've been sitting at the computer for over four hours. My own self-imposed deadline for this column has come and gone while my editor's more lenient deadline is fast approaching. So far, I've written three totally different drafts. Each one is on a distinct topic, but none of them is good enough to submit for publication yet. Now I'm starting still another draft without even having a new topic in mind. However the theme is becoming more blatantly obvious with each sentence I type. One would think that after churning out over 350 weekly columns I would have mastered the technique. One might also think that I would have followed my editor's advice and set aside a reserve column for times like this. Yet here I am sitting at the keyboard no closer to completing this week's column than I was several hours ago. I seem to have been under the impression that I could just sit down and pop out the perfect words that would concisely and flawlessly convey the exact idea that readers everywhere were breathlessly waiting to read. Of course I'm not really that vain, nor do I believe that everything I write is a masterpiece. Reader feedback helps me maintain humility in this regard. Still, that drive for perfection created enough writer's block to make me avoid the computer and ignore looming deadlines. No matter what I write now, it cannot possibly be good enough and will surely contain mistakes in spelling, grammar, style and/or reason. So here I sit with three completed first drafts and four paragraphs of a fourth one. If to err really is to be human, then why do I have so much fear and trepidation about not being perfect? The truth is that I have absolutely no idea. However, as soon as I figure it out, I'll be sure to write a column on the subject. So stay tuned.
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SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2008 |
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