Tag: Writing Excuses

Perfect Is the Enemy of Done

11th March 2021
Writing
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A book and a notebook on a desk.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Many people dream about writing a book but never get past talking about it.

Some start but get stuck “researching,” afraid that they may miss something essential if they don’t read that next book. And the next one. And the next one, in a never-ending stream of self-deceit.

Others start but never finish because they’re continuously tinkering with it, adding a word here, another there, shuffling paragraphs around, the eternal Joseph Grands. They’re not adding new material propelling the book forward, just recycling old stuff.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. Perfect doesn’t exist. We’re only deceiving ourselves thinking that one more day, one more week, one more month to put the finishing touch on that artwork, on that project, will miraculously transform it, making it perfect.

Perfect is the enemy of done.

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The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021

12th November 2020
The Zone
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!

Welcome to this week’s installment of the Zone, my happy place where I share interesting (and often whimsical) things I found out there on the world wide web. Here are a few things I thought were worth sharing this week.

  • The Quote Investigator is a website where Garson O’Toole investigates quotations. Did s/he really say that? Citations and references are included to show how the quotation was verified. How could I live without this? If you’re interested, the Resources page offers further reading. I bookmarked the page on the spot.
  • As a long time lover of Japanese woodblock prints, I was mesmerized by this video showing the step-by-step process of making one of the woodblock prints. The video is narrated by the Tokyo-based woodblock printmaker David Bull. Bull has also created a three-hour video showing him creating an entire woodblock print, from beginning to the end, with no cuts. Bonus: you can download +2,500 Japanese woodblock prints and drawings at the Library of Congress’ online collection here.
  • A documentary I’m looking forward to watching: Song Exploder, in which the musician Hrishikesh Hirway deconstructs how songs are made. The documentary series is based on his acclaimed podcast, and the first episodes include Alicia Keys, REM, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
  • A podcast I’ve discovered: Writing Excuses, now on its’ 15th season. It’s an educational podcast by writers for writers, with short episodes, between 15 to 25 minutes. The length guarantees I’ll listen. I usually appreciate longer podcasts diving deep into a theme (Tim Ferriss’ is a favorite, for instance), but I don’t always have the time or the peace of mind to listen to such long episodes. I can always accommodate a short one.
  • Speaking of Tim Ferriss: he has created the ultimate To Read – Book List, books recommended by world-class performers in their field, and guests on his podcast.
  • As an aspiring artist, I’ve always been fascinated by artists’ studios. I’m in the process of creating my own studio in our former garage and was therefore glad to stumble over Hyperallergic’s A View from the Easel series, in which artists send in a photo and a description of their workspace. Bonus: see more studios in my Artist Studio board on Pinterest.
  • Birthdays to Celebrate: Georgia O’Keeffe was born on November 15th, 1887. She transformed flower painting, and New Mexico (where she moved later in life) transformed her. A short introduction to Georgia O’Keeffe’s art here. And a bonus.

A Quote I’m Pondering

What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.

Herbert A. Simon (1916 – 2001)

From My Photo Archives

Close up of deep blue sea, photo by Mihaela Limberea
Deep Blue Sea

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