I recently made a physical copy of my upcoming book as a way to make some final edits, and as I was reading, I found myself saying stuff like,

“I need to make this part longer.”
“I should add a couple extra pages to this chapter.”
“Will the reader even get this?”

And then I remembered a quote:

Now I wouldn’t call my book terrible, but I would love to have another three years to keep writing and building upon it. But that’s the textbook definition of a perfectionist.

When it comes to creativity, whether you’re writing a book, making digital art, designing clothes, or even making a gift for someone, none of it matters if you don’t put it out in the first place. Whether it’s terrible or not, at least you put something out in the world. That’s a lot more than what most people can say they did.

There’s always going to be ‘more’ you’ll want to add. To have just a little more time to make it better. But in a world with such different opinions and expectations, you’re never going to make everyone happy. As Rick Rubin said in his book The Creative Act, you have to expect criticism and judgement if you’re going to put anything out into the world.

And all you’re doing by adding stuff here and adding stuff there is delaying your work from being seen by those who truly need and want it.

Perfection isn’t possible. But looking back at your work and seeing people enjoy it, no matter how few they may be, is.

Until next time,
Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I’m Currently Reading - I’m now reading CinderGirl by Christina Meredith. A biography on Christina’s life and how she got past the foster system and made the best out of her life after being homeless.

Quote Of The Week - “The person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” — Albert Einstein