Perfect is the Enemy of Finished

When I was a college freshman, my then-boyfriend decided the standard medieval fantasy setting was ALL WRONG. A proper fantasy tale should have a Bronze Age setting, It wasn't long before he created an elaborate, multi book idea, complete with hero and sidekick/love interest.

His opus never made it past the first page.

He showed me the first three or so paragraphs, telling me this was edited from previous editions. What he had so far was of decent quality, and I gave him encouraging words. He didn't like how his protagonist was turning out, so he was going to edit again. This was the last I heard of his project.

I understand the joy of infodumping story ideas. It's hard getting the raw ideas from your head to the screen, and harder still to refine them until meet your vision. Chatting about broad strokes doesn't require careful editing, worries about pacing, character, or other elements of a well told piece.

This type of infodumping can also bypass the powerful urge to be your worst critic. Once my ex started typing, he was frustrated how his words weren't perfect from the outset. Kicking your own ass as a writer is so easy to do, and he saw no reason to stop.

Dramatic recreation of my ex's inner critic

While fiction writing was a passing whim for him, it's something I want to devote myself to. I keep his abandoned novel in mind when I'm working on my own drafts. If there's a passage or idea I'm not satisfied with, I'll make a note to edit later and push on. Do I want my work to be as close to perfect as possible? Yes, but I want to share my work even more. This can't happen with incomplete stories.