A month or so ago, I spent some time with one of my friends (You should visit his site. He’s an amazing artist.) from graduate school. He introduced me to his friends as a writer, poet, artist, entrepreneur, and social media guru. I was more than a little embarrassed. I never, ever imagined that I would be introduced in such a fashion.
Packing Books for the Umpteenth Time
Packing my books is a chore. A labor. A task. Packing them requires many boxes both because of the number of books as well as the weight of them. I am no Hercules. I have to pack strategically. I have to evaluate whether I can carry the box of books. My stubbornness says yes; my muscles – or lack of them – say no.
Asking for Feedback
I have been thinking about what I need to do to make Write Right better. It’s more of an obsession. I’m always thinking about what I need to do next. I’m constantly pondering which project needs to be completed first and how to implement some of those projects, such as downloadable PDFs or podcasting.
Cut Yourself Some Slack
The problem with perfectionists, but by no means not the only one (Yes, I’m repeating a line from one of my other posts about perfectionism.), is that they become fixated upon their failures. Those failures may be real. They may be imagined. They may be small, such as forgetting to send an email or to make a phone call. They may be large, such as not caring for shipping arrangements for an upcoming trade show or not paying a bill on time. It doesn’t matter. In the mind of a perfectionist, a small failure is or becomes equal with a large failure.
The Failure Factor
As a perfectionist, it’s easy for me to feel like a failure. Entertaining a single failure in my mind increases the likelihood that I will remember other failures and shortcomings and that I will obsess about them. Suddenly, I’m not a mere failure. I’m an abysmal one.
Write Right: Split Infinitives
Split infinitives are like split lips or split ends. All three are bad, and all three require some work. Split ends require scissors and – I hope – a good hairstylist. Split lips need ice and maybe some stitches. Split infinitives? Split infinitives require editing, perhaps some ice but more likely scissors and glue (Cut and paste is a good friend to have.).