This week: why we should aim for perfection; an update on my writing; The Spike-related links; and Babooshka!
practice_makes_it
The pursuit of perfection is often decried as pointless, impossible, and unhealthy. It can be. But it’s also necessary.
Perfection (noun): the state of being complete and correct in every way
Being perfect can be objective or subjective, measurable or immeasurable, absolute or inexact.
Examples of objective, measurable, absolute perfection include perfect scores in sports, like a hole in one in golf, a nine-dart finish in darts, or six sixes in an over of cricket. It’s impossible to do better.
In snooker, the highest break possible (without a free ball) is 147: potting every red with a black, then all the colours.
But not all 147s are equal. Some might be a bit scrappy: a ball wobbling and only just going in a pocket; falling out of position and needing a long pot to continue the break; or needing a fluke. Some are more aesthetically pleasing to watch, and that’s when perfection becomes subjective, immeasurable, and inexact. It’s based on opinion.
For my money, the fastest maximum of all time, by Ronnie O’Sullivan, is as close as anyone’s likely to get to a perfect 147, but he can point out imperfections with it.
As soon as we move away from fact-based judgements to opinions, perfection is subjective. This is where the creative arts sit; you can’t measure how good a painting, book, song, or movie is. Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes are still only aggregated scores of opinions. My idea of a perfect movie might be different to yours.
For the record, though, Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” is perfect. If you disagree, you’re wrong.
We all love discovering something we find perfect, and sharing it with other people. There’s so much content around that mining the jewels can be difficult, and there are vast industries providing reviews and rankings to help us find perfection.
So if we all want to find that next perfect thing, why are there people telling creators they should not aim to provide it? “Pointless, impossible, and unhealthy”, right?
Impossible? Well, no. Great art is difficult to find because it’s so difficult to produce. It’s rare – that’s what makes it special. But almost all of us have an album or book or film we feel is perfect, something we do not think could be any better.
So it’s scarce, but not impossible.
Unhealthy? It can be if the pursuit of perfection becomes obsessive. If it leads a creator to never share their work because it’s not perfect in their eyes, that’s bad, but worse, if they beat themselves up over that “failure”, it can be extremely damaging.
That pursuit does not need to become obsessive, though. It’s entirely possible to pursue perfection without sabotaging one’s mental health.
The most important facet is to realise when something can no longer be improved; when further work will not make it better, just different; when the creator has done the best they can.
When starting out, an artist’s best might not be as good as they would like. They may feel too embarrassed to share it with anyone. That’s normal. They shouldn’t be disheartened. The aim must be that the next piece will be better. And the next after that will be better again. And again.
To everyone I say: keep improving. Aim high, but don’t punish yourself if you don’t reach those heights. Learn lessons, be honest enough with yourself to note what can be progressed, and aim higher next time.
I won’t release a piece of work until I’ve gone through it and cannot see any changes I want to make. That doesn’t mean I think it’s perfect. But it does mean it’s the best I can do at that point in time. And to someone else, it might be the perfection they were looking for.
So, is the pursuit of perfection pointless? No. I guarantee some of your favourite creations are the result of it, and the world would be a poorer place without them.
progress_report
I’ve been back at the day job this week after being on hols last week, and it’s been rough. My wordcount was always likely to drop, and it has, to 2710.
That reduction is also partly down to the section of the story I’ve reached. The next few chapters are the first point where all three separate parts interlink, so I need to refer to the relevant chapters I’ve written in both other parts to make sure everything happens in the correct order, there are no contradictions, that the actions have consequences, and they all balance.
Additionally, each part needs to be distinct enough that it’s not boring to read the same scene from a second or third viewpoint. It’s a challenge I enjoy and I think gives my books something a little different, even if it makes my brain hurt.
status.vol2
The Spike Volume 2 will contain three separate books from the perspective of seven characters.
Part 1 – draft 2 complete; further chapters to add.
Part 2 – draft 2 complete!
Part 3 – draft 2 written up to chapter 31; thirty-five chapters to go.
The intention is to complete draft 2 of part 3 by the end of March.
Part 1 is currently much shorter than the others, and I want them to be closer in length, so I will need to decide how to tighten parts 2 and 3 slightly, and add more to part 1 – I have some exciting ideas to expand it.
Then a readthrough of all parts will determine how much revision is required.
The ultimate aim is to have Volume 2 finished by the end of 2025 for publication early 2026.
connecting_links
The Spike is set in our world, incorporating real events; the links below are relevant to the themes and overarching storyline, and may or may not provide clues to the direction of the series.
I do not necessarily agree with or endorse any of the views within.
Powerful quantum computers in years not decades, says Microsoft
Hate speech on X surged for at least 8 months after Elon Musk takeover – new research
US Authors Guild to certify books from ‘human intellect’ rather than AI
weekly_inspiration
Every week I share something that’s inspired my creativity.
This week, I’ve been revisiting “Babooshka” by Kate Bush. I don’t listen to much pop music because of how derivative it can be, but Kate Bush is different in the best way.
In 1978, at the age of just 19, she became the first woman to top the UK singles chart with a self-written song, “Wuthering Heights”, and she remains the youngest to this day.
In 2022, her track “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” reached number one, which means she also became the oldest woman to get a UK number one single at the age of 63.
That’s inspirational enough, but the way she’s done it is arguably more impressive. Her music, voice, and style are so uniquely hers, you couldn’t mistake her for anyone else. In the modern era, it can be difficult to tell singers apart, deliberately so.
She single-handedly proves creators need to be themselves, and the keyholders need to take more risks.
What’s inspired you this week? Please share in the comments.
See you next week.
Arrowmaker Books 