Using the Word “Perfect” to Empower Our Writing By Ekta R. Garg

 

Using the Word “Perfect” to Empower Our Writing

By Ekta R. Garg, Reviewer, Editor, Author, Dreamer

 

What does the word “perfect” mean? Dictionary.com says “to make flawless.” Wordhippo.com says perfect is “without fault or mistake.”

 

Readers talk about books this way, saying a novel or a memoir is perfect—in other words, they wouldn’t have changed a thing. Some of the most famous authors and creators disliked or even disowned their own work, however. They didn’t think their famous creations were without flaws.

 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle became jealous that people recognized Sherlock Holmes more than him and killed off the famous detective before bringing him back. Leo Tolstoy disowned War and Peace and Anna Karenina later in life after he became religious, saying his books went against his new beliefs. A.A. Milne appreciated the love for Winnie the Pooh but also resented how the Hundred-Acre Wood eclipsed all his other work.

 

If famous authors feel like their stories had problems, where does that leave less well-known writers? Are we hopeless? Should we quit writing?

 

What does it mean to perfect our prose?

 

Let’s start by adopting a new definition of perfection or being perfect. The words “perfection” and “perfect” come from the base word “perficio,” which means “to finish”; “to bring to an end.” Instead of trying to write a story without blemish or flaw, we should concentrate on finishing it so nothing else can be added.

 

We’re revising the idea of perfection. This means revising our stories too. It means drilling into our stories until every element is as polished as we can make it.

 

Revisions can be time-consuming, because we’re forcing ourselves to dig deeper into the story than when we first wrote it. They’re also essential to the writing process. The best writing comes from rewriting.

 

No writer in the history of the universe has ever written a perfect first draft. Every big-name author starts out the same way: with a blank page and an idea. Successful writers work days and weeks on their stories. They gain success over time, yes, and they have legions of fans and movies and even theme parks made out of their work. But no one attains perfection, or completion, by dashing off a whole bunch of words and calling it a day.

 

So, revision is important. It’s also necessary. It takes attention to detail. It requires an openness to giving your story a long, hard look and being at peace with making changes when they’re needed.

 

All of this might sound exhausting, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Revising your work gives you the opportunity to step back and take a longer look at what you’re trying to accomplish. It enables you to get to know your story and characters better. You get past the honeymoon stage and form a deep bond, a lifelong relationship, with that story. That bond only happens with time and care, and when you revise that’s exactly what you’re giving your piece.

 

Because it’s only with that time and care and that bonding and those revisions that you can complete your story. It’s only then that you’ll have perfected your prose.