Perfectionism

     One of the things that an artist struggles with is to achieve perfection in their work, whether it is their story, painting, or even music. But what he fails to realize is that art above all, is not perfection but expression. It is expressing your mind onto the canvas, not trying to create a wowing effect on the crowd. In fact, when you see it in the grand scheme of things artists who are renowned in our time are people who didn’t create for the sole purpose of achieving greatness but to simply express an idea that they had.

     Maybe the fear of failure drives us to achieve the level of perfection. We are so scared of failing that we do not want to fail. So afraid of making mistakes that we do not want to make ‘em at all. But then, how does one learn their lesson. They say, practice makes perfect, you learn by making mistakes.

Everyone loves a ‘rags to riches story’ of people who became and succeeded against the odds, or those who just caught a lucky break, like Jim Carrey, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and so on. Take for consideration, J.K. Rowling (no introduction necessary), who simply started writing because she had an idea. And that is all it takes, a simple idea, which if you believe in, will carry you a long way.

     

     Perfection in art is another very important issue, because when it comes to art, who gets to say what is right and wrong? Is there such a thing as perfection when it comes to art? When art is subjective, how can you determine that which is perfect and that which is not? The answer is simple, art is not perfect, and it is that which makes it so wonderfully. All it needs to have is an artist’s sincerity. That, in itself is enough.

Writer's Block

     Writers are all familiar with this term, ‘writer’s block’ as most of them have experienced it in their creative lives. One of the questions that we ask ourselves is, “How do I get out of it?” And the even bigger mystery, why do we get it in the first place? Do we simply run out of creative juice or are we just incapable of summoning the inspiration to do more?

     To find out more, I asked one of my dear friends who, by the way, is a writer suffering from a block. She felt that it was because she was under a lot of pressure in her life. I was somehow still unsatisfied, is then an artist blocked only when they are disillusioned in life? The opinion of another stated that a writer suffers from block due to psychological stresses in his life. This left me feeling very confused, who was right? Which opinion was the most researched and accurate?

     So, like all the other citizens of the twenty first century, I googled. And after a few minutes spent browsing, I was able to form opinions of my own in terms to this phenomenon. It turns out that a writer’s block is a common enough problem and that a lot of writers suffer from it every now and then. The seriousness of it though, varies.  First, there is the simple problem when a writer writes himself into a difficult situation in his story, easily remedied though, by simply a change of scenery, a walk down the lane, a cup of coffee, or even a discussion with peers. Then there is another situation that leads to a blockage of creative juices, often experienced by yours truly, the simple problem of being overwhelmed. There is a lot and I mean a lot of competition in the creative industry, so it is very easy to feel that your work is inadequate and that it does not have the je ne sais quoi that others seem to have, but what one has to understand is that we each have our own style and it is that style that is going to make it. Now, if I could only somehow embed that into my brain. Well, these are easily beatable blocks that don’t have much lasting effect. All you have to do is just get up and get out; changing the scenery is enough to get inspired.

     But what does one do with the much more serious obstacles in life that lead to blocks? Obstacles like depression, stuck in a bad place in life, dealing with loss and pain? How do we overcome this? I don’t think that a walk in the park is going to be sufficient to help with this kind of problems, what would one do then, simply quit creativity altogether? Maybe then, the stresses in their life would force them to look towards other avenues rather than creativity. In that case, if the writer is unable to pull himself out of his dead end, then the world would have lost perhaps a valuable work of literature.

     And so, after all this trouble of trying to find an opinion, I was still lost as to how to actually deal with a writer’s block but then I stumbled upon this quote that basically did it for me. You don’t push through a block; you wait for it to leave you.

When I sit down in order to write, sometimes it’s there; sometimes it’s not. But that doesn’t bother me anymore. I tell my students there is such a thing as “writer’s block,” and they should respect it. You shouldn’t write through it. It’s blocked because it ought to be blocked, because you haven’t got it right now. TONI MORRISON