Striving for Perfection

I have been struggleing for weeks with an assignment for my children's writing course. Past assignments have been a breeze compared to this one. It is a non-fiction article. I have never written a non-fiction article.

I choose a subject that I am passionate about, and studied the facts faithfully. Then, I sat down to write. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Finally a friend advised me to just write. Get it down, good, bad, or ugly. Then go back and fix it. So this I did.

First introduction... YUCK!

Second introduction... BLAHHH!

Third introduction... IIIICCCCKKK!

And so on, and so, and so on.

It was just facts! I knew the facts, they were accurate and clear, but it was boring!

For weeks I agonized, wondering if I should just choose a different subject. Then one night, I decided to ask my non-reading, non-writing, husband his opionion on one of my introductions. I am so glad I did!

I have learned, you should never underestimate the power of an outside opinion. Even one who isn't part of your writers group. If I had submitted my intros to my group they most likely would have helped me long ago.

Thank you Larry for your words of wisdom. "Did Thomas Jefferson have a dog?"

I didn't use it, but it caused me to think and to write from a different viewpoint.

I'm ninety percent done with my first draft. I hope someone out there can learn from my struggle.