Uplifting Thought for the Day · 12:40am Apr 11th, 2019

Truth surrounds us constantly. We can hear it as easily from the unlettered man in poverty as from the educated man of academia (in fact, sometimes I feel like you're more likely to find truth in the simple than in the learned). The trick is to listen for truth at all times and to treasure it deeply when it is found.

Today's truth was shared with me by a man who is not a writer and has never displayed to me any desire to be a storyteller in any respect:

"You can edit a bad book, but not a blank page."

Let that little gem sink in for a few moments. Really spend some time digesting it. There is a wisdom here which applies quite directly to the practice of writing, though I think you will find that its truth penetrates far deeper if you stop to truly consider it. Think on how often we set out to do something great in life, but we become so obsessed with perfection that we do not even begin the undertaking. Would it not be better to simply do something decent and try to improve it once we have something done? This is not to say that we should be reckless or deliberately craft trash, but neither should we let the fear of failure paralyze us. Things which are imperfect may be fixed, but a lack of any action begets only emptiness.

Now, perfection is something which we should rightly pursue, but we should not let the pursuit of perfection keep us from appreciating that which is simply good. To quote Vince Lombardi, “Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.”

Perhaps the most important thing in all of this is not to give up hope. Realistically, you will make mistakes, whether we're talking here about writing or about life in general. Some of these mistakes may even be Grade-A screwups, or worse. That's life. Get up. Make amends. Move forward. Failure can be a powerful teacher, so use it rather than wasting it.

As long as you're alive, you can always work to write better, make things better, and be better. Don't let the fear of future failure or your disgust with past failure keep you from improving. The truth is that we are all capable of excellence. It's just a matter of figuring out what that means in our own lives and working to get there.

So get to writing, and Godspeed.

~Antiquarian

Report Antiquarian · 402 views · #How to Write #How to Live #Pursuing Excellence

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