The Thing About Being Perfect

Let's start with the facts:

No one is perfect.
Heroes aren't perfect.
Heroines aren't perfect.
Writing itself isn't perfect.

If you're like me, you're probably staring at that last fact and thinking to yourself, "But I want my writing to be perfect!"

Well, guess what? It's never going to be. You can't write the perfect story. Your heroes/heroines can't be perfect. Just like you and me, they have to make mistakes. It's what makes us interesting. It's what makes your story interesting. No one wants to read a perfect story about a perfect character who has no need to learn from his/her mistakes because that would be BORING.

And let's add another layer to this whole "you can't be perfect so neither can your writing" theme:

Not everyone is going to love your story/writing.
 

There are humongous bestsellers that have people that hate them just as much as others love them. It's just the way of the world. You can't please everyone. It's impossible, so you should stop trying.

What you should do is write the story that you would want to read, imperfections and all. And yes, you're going to make mistakes as you're writing it. Yes, you're going to have issues that you'll have to rewrite and fix later. Yes, it's going to take a massive amount of time because that's how writing works.

You write
You learn.
You rewrite.
Your story gets better.
You become a better writer.

And, really, isn't that what we all want?

I say embrace your imperfections. Write what's running through your mind right now and worry about making it as good as it can be later.