@Allan: Perfectionism certainly is a nasty demon. In my case it’s less about being ‘perfect’ and more about being ‘accepted’. I’ve got some rather strange insecurities when it comes to the inner child’s need for people to like her. Trying to please everyone is perhaps a form of perfectionism.

In the end, all any of us can do is add another word to the page. Keep writing, give yourself permission to write badly, and love yourself. Everything else will fall into place around you if you do.

Thanks for the great comments!

Writing is messy. The demon within begs us to be neat, orderly, tidy. Backspace! Delete it! Scratch it out!

We beat him down, and beat him down again, “Not now!”

His screams make us more uneasy but we’ve been told that by facing the page it gets easier to face again and again.

I’d say that if that demon had a name, he would be called “Perfectionism” – and perfectionists will often not do anything if they can’t get it 100% right!

When they don’t do it, the pressure gets worse, guilt sets in, panic hits about not meeting deadlines and the whole shebang can spiral down from there.

After a layoff of a couple of months from writing regularly, I finally resolved to just write, anything, about anything.

After a while it all started to flow again.

Now, I write, and force myself not to correct anything until that first draft is complete.

Thanks for a great post,

Allan

I still say I’m going to see your novels on stores shelves some day…

*smiles*
Michele