Overcoming Your Inner Perfectionist
- Bair Klos
- Mar 4
- 6 min read
The Perfectionism Trap
Perfectionism. The bane of all artists existence. It lurks in the shadows of our mind whispering sweet nothings of: your work isn't good enough. Or it creeps in the crevices of our hearts and says: you aren’t good enough.
I spent months working on the same damn first chapter of one of my WIP, rewriting it over and over, never satisfied. Why? Because I didn’t know where the story was going, so I kept reworking the opening to death—thinking if I just got it perfect, the rest of the book would fall into place.
Spoiler alert: It didn’t.
That’s the trap of perfectionism—it tricks you into thinking you’re making progress when really, you’re just running in circles. The longer you chase perfect, the more you delay progress.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
But here’s the truth: Perfectionism doesn’t make you a better writer—it keeps you from writing at all.
It doesn’t just stall creativity—it murders it. If you’re constantly waiting for the right words, the right moment, or the perfect conditions to write, guess what? You’ll never write. Every book you love exists because someone chose progress over perfection. It’s time to do the same.
Liberate yourself of your anxieties and embrace the messiness of the creative process. The only way forward is through. Your words deserve to exist, even in their rawest form. And honestly, there's such a profound beauty of fledgling words in their rawest form. Why deny them their existence?
Writing isn’t about perfection—it’s about creating something meaningful, it's about self-expression, and it's about giving voice to something important.
Why Perfectionism Is Killing Your Creativity
Perfectionism convinces you that if you’re not great immediately, you shouldn’t even try. It tells you:
"If it’s not perfect, why bother?"
"What if people think it’s bad?"
"I need to be 100% ready before I start."
REALITY CHECK: Writing is supposed to be messy. Your first draft is not a book—it’s just raw material that you’ll refine later.
Think about learning an instrument. When you first pick up a guitar:
Your fingers hurt.
Your chords sound like a dying walrus.
You have no idea what you’re doing.
Writing is the same. If you’ve been writing for three months, you are a three-month-old writer. Would you expect a three-month-old baby to run a marathon? No. So don't expect yourself to write 5,000 perfect words in one sitting.
And while there are talented snobs out there who are great at writing (or any art) from the get-go, talent can only take you so far—what really matters is showing up, practicing, and pushing through the messy middle. Consistency builds skill. Skill builds confidence. Confidence kills perfectionism.
How to Silence Your Inner Perfectionist & Just Start Writing
1.) Give Yourself Permission to Write Badly
Every writer—even bestselling authors—writes garbage first drafts. Ernest Hemingway literally said:
“The first draft of anything is sh*t.”
So stop expecting yourself to write Shakespeare on your first try. Write badly. Write messy. Just WRITE.
ACTION STEP: Set a timer for 10 minutes and write whatever comes to mind. No stopping. No editing. Just let the words exist.
If your brain freezes up, type: "This is stupid. I don’t know what to write. Maybe my character just walks into a wall? That’s fine. It’s something." Keep going. Momentum matters more than quality.
The words don’t have to be perfect; they just have to be there. You can’t fix what doesn’t exist.
As Shannon Hale put it perfectly:
“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”
2.) Set a Low-Stakes Goal (200 Words Is Enough)
Instead of aiming for “perfect”, aim for progress.
Write for 10 minutes.
Write 200 words.
Write one messy paragraph.
Once you start, you’ll probably keep going. But even if you don’t? You still made progress.
Writing isn’t about inspiration—it’s about consistency. Even 200 messy words a day adds up to a full novel. That’s 6,000 words a month, 72,000 words a year. You’re closer than you think.
3.) Remove Distractions and Just Write
One of the biggest killers of creative momentum isn’t just perfectionism—it’s distraction. Social media, notifications, family, friends, pets, and the constant temptation to check one more thing keep you from getting words on the page. If you want to write, you need to create a space where nothing else exists but your story.
Try these:
Put your phone in another room (or use “Do Not Disturb” mode). (Or if you want to be crazy like me, go to a cafe and leave all your devices (yes, ALL) in your car and bring an old fashioned writing notebook (read here on the 5 Benefits of a Writer's Notebook) and pencil and write until your fingers cramp.)
Use distraction-blocking apps like Freedom or Cold Turkey.
Set a timer and commit to writing with zero interruptions.
Create a pre-writing ritual to signal to your brain that it’s time to focus.
The more you train yourself to enter a distraction-free writing zone, the easier it becomes to lose yourself in the flow of writing. And most importantly, when you're in the early stages of your writing career, treat your writing space as a sacred space.
4.) Stuck? Ask More Questions
If you’re struggling to put words on the page, maybe it’s because you haven’t explored your world or characters deeply enough. Even if you’re a discovery writer (pantser), you can gain momentum by figuring out what you want to say with your story.
A great way to push forward is to ask yourself questions:
Who is my protagonist? What are their flaws?
What kind of world do they live in?
What problem are they facing? What’s standing in their way?
What do they think they want vs. what do they actually need?
For me, writing is all about asking questions. The more questions you ask, the more doors you open in your story. If you feel stuck, it might not be a block—it might just be a lack of clarity. Keep questioning, keep exploring, and the words will come. Read my blog post here on The Power of Asking Questions in Writing to get a whole list of questions to ask yourself while writing.
5.) Separate Writing & Editing
Drafting and editing use different brain modes. If you switch back and forth, you kill your momentum.
WRONG: Write → Delete sentence → Rewrite → Stare at blank page → Cry.
RIGHT: Write → Keep moving forward → Let it be imperfect → Fix later.
TRICK: If you can’t resist editing, change the font color to white so you can’t see mistakes as you type.
Another trick? Write in a font you hate. Comic Sans. Papyrus. Whatever makes it impossible to take yourself seriously. Make it ridiculous so you stop expecting perfection.
6.) The “No Delete” Rule
If you constantly delete sentences while writing—STOP.
Instead of deleting:
Use strikethrough. (This sentence sucks, but I’ll fix it later.)
Change the font color. (Or turn it white so it’s “invisible” until revisions.)
Highlight it and move on.
You can’t fix what doesn’t exist. Keep moving forward. Editing is where good writing happens, but only if you have something to edit.
The Best Way to Beat Perfectionism? Fall (Back) in Love With Writing
Perfectionism feeds off fear. But joy? Joy is untouchable. Joy doesn’t care if you write the “perfect” sentence—joy just wants to write. Joy just wants to be free.
Here’s how to actually do it:
Write the scenes that excite you (even if they’re out of order).
Take the pressure off by playing with words. Write something ridiculous, self-indulgent, or over-the-top dramatic.
Re-read the part of your WIP that made you fall in love with your story.
Make writing feel fun again. Play music, light a candle, wear a ridiculous hat—whatever gets you in the zone.
Celebrate progress, not perfection. A messy draft is still progress.
Ready to put this into action? Let’s do some writing exercises.
Writing Exercise: Now It’s Your Turn to Just Start
Set a timer for 10 minutes.
Write without stopping—no backspacing, no deleting, no fixing.
If you get stuck, literally type “I don’t know what to write next” until your brain fills the gap.
When the timer goes off, STOP. Read what you wrote.
See? You just wrote something. It might be messy, but it exists. And that’s the goal.
Concluding Thoughts
Perfectionism is lying to you. Your first draft doesn’t need to be good—it just needs to exist.
The difference between writers who finish books and those who don’t? They keep going.
Every great writer starts with something imperfect. The only way to get better is to write anyway.
So go. Write something messy. Write something terrible. But most importantly? Write something.
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” – Terry Pratchett
Write without fear, ignore the inner-perfectionist, and when in doubt, have a shot of favorite choice of poison—then write!
—Bair✍︎
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