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Copyright 2002 by Angela Booth Its Saturday afternoon. Your partner has taken the kids to thepark. You have a whole hour to write. Instead of which, you sit,staring out the window like Rodins Thinker in jeans and a yellowsweatshirt. Why arent you writing? A tiny item called PerfectionSyndrome. You want whatever you write in this precious hour to beperfect.During the week, you had a stream of plausible ideas. You wrotethree ideas in your notebook: an article about childrens firstwords (your six month old said truck), an essay about malevanity, and a short story about a blonde with tattooed arms and apoodle.Just now, none of those ideas seems right. Youve only got anhour, so you want the perfect idea, the one that will justify thesixty minutes youre about to spend on it. Instead, you donothing.Perfection Syndrome can destroy your writing career. Its akiller, because if you dont recognise it for what it is, itleads to apathy. The gap between whats in your head and whatmanifests on the page is so wide that you may give up writing fordays or weeks. I understand Perfection Syndrome, because its something I battleevery day. The words on the screen or the page never measure upto the words in my head. I start typing, and after a sentence ortwo, stop. The words "this is garbage" light up like neon in myskull, my stomach clenches, and I feel as if a ten ton weight haddropped onto my body. Its not as if Im a new writer. Ive beenwriting for over 20 years. Intellectually, I understand that itsimportant to get words onto the screen --- any words. You can fixwhatever you write. Emotionally, I want the first draft to beperfect. Ive accepted that perfectionism is part of mypersonality, and without a personality transplant, Im nevergoing to get rid of it, so all I can do is out-write it. Yes, out-write it. A practice thats helped is Julia CameronsMorning Pages method, which is detailed in her books: TheArtists Way, and Vein of Gold. The first thing I do each morningis write three pages in longhand. This primes the pump, and if Iaccomplish the Morning Pages, I know that I can count on aproductive writing day, and Perfection Syndrome is beaten forthis 24 hours at least.Updating my inner "writer" image also helped. Images are thelanguage of the right brain and the subconscious mind. Yoursubconscious mind is the engine which drives you. My initialimage of my writing self was of a mountain climber, clinging tovertical rock and ice, unable to see the mountain peak, butterrorized by a crevasse below. No wonder I needed every word tobe perfect, if the alternative was death. A more nourishing imagepopped into my mind. I saw my writing self as a seed-sower, theold-time kind, with a deep hessian bag of seeds, walking alongthe furrows of a field of fertile soil, scattering seeds withboth hands. Now, whenever I feel panicked about my writing, Ivisualize myself as the sower, scattering those seeds. Askyourself what image you hold of yourself as a writer. Strategies to beat Perfection SyndromeThe first step in fighting Perfection Syndrome is to acknowledgethat youve got it, and know that its beatable. Any of thestrategies below will help. * Morning Pages: first thing each morning, write three pages inlonghand. The pages dont have to be about anything. You canwrite three pages of whining about situations in your life, orthree pages of "This is stupid, I dont know what to write". Yes,but--- youre thinking: Im supposed to write three pages no onewill ever see, much less publish? YES. Just try the process.* Check in with your subconscious mind. Just wonder quietly aboutthe image you hold of your writing self. Either awake, whiledaydreaming, or in a dream, and image will float into your mind.If its negative, change it to a life-affirming, encouraging andhopeful one. * Set a target number of words for each writing session. However,set the word target and quality LOW. Even on your worst migraineday you can write 200 words of gibberish. Or, promise yourselfthat whenever you turn on your computer, you will write 50 wordson your current project.* Keep a writing log for each writing session for a week. Listwhat you worked on, how many words you wrote, and how you feltbefore you started writing and how you felt when you finished.Your writing log will convince you that writing can alter yourmoods: youll feel better when you finish your writing sessionthan you did before you started. It will also convince you thatyou can write when youre depressed, tired, or ill.* Start a story prompts/ ideas file. A fresh idea may tempt youif youre resisting working on your current projects.* Where else in your life do you expect perfection? If yourestruck with Perfection Syndrome, it will manifest in other areas.List five of those areas, and several ways to combat each* Perfectionism leads to procrastination: do one task each daythat youve been putting off. Be willing to skimp on the task,and do it badly, but do it.Copyright 2002 by Angela Booth ***Resource box: if using, please include*** When your wordssound good, you sound good. Author and copywriter Angela Boothcrafts words for your business --- words to sell, educate orpersuade. Get in touch today for a free quote: ab@digital-e.bizFree ezine: Creative Small Biz --- subscribe athttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/Creative_Small_Biz/**END**

About the Author

Australian author and journalist Angela Booth writes about business, technology, health and creativity for print and online publications. She also writes copy for businesses large and small.