Overcoming Writing Obstacles: Perfection Paralysis
Part 5 of the “6 Ways to Overcome Obstacles and Write High-Quality Articles in Large Quantities” video series.
No matter where you are in the world, you can find countless support groups and 12-step programs for whatever addiction, malady or obsession you might suffer from. There’s everything from Alcoholics Anonymous to Acne Sufferers International. The goal of these groups and programs is to help individuals overcome their inner demons and live happier, healthier lives.
Sadly, our stick figure friend Gary suffers from his own debilitating addiction. One that is undermining his livelihood by destroying his ability to write large quantities of highly-targeted, effective articles. His condition is called Perfection Paralysis. It causes Gary to have an overwhelming urge to make every article absolutely perfect before he submits it to EzineArticles.
Fortunately for Gary, there’s a support group for Perfection Paralysis right near his home. In this video, we’ll join Gary as he attends his very first meeting of Perfectionists Anonymous.
Fortunately for Gary, there’s help for Perfection Paralysis sufferers. There’s help for you too! Just commit yourself to following our 12-step program and you’ll be writing busloads of articles in no time at all!
12 Steps to Overcoming Your Perfection Paralysis
- Accept that imperfect articles are not “bad or “wrong.”
- Understand that not publishing articles simply because they’re imperfect is wrong.
- Focus on quality content, rather than absolute perfection.
- Provide solutions to problems in your articles.
- Realize that most readers will overlook minor errors if content quality is high.
- Embrace the concept that 20 imperfect, traffic-driving articles are better than 3 perfect articles.
- Remember, perfection is exhausting!
- Reduce the temptation to tell your reader everything in one article.
- Provide enough information to fulfill the need of the reader, but leave enough unsaid to entice the reader to your website.
- Create an article production time line and stick to it.
- If you miss something in your article, write another article to address that missing information.
- Keep in mind that more high-quality, original articles = more traffic, so just write, submit and move on!
If you still need more help coping with your perfectionist ways, leave a comment below and we’ll be glad to offer a little support.
John,
1-2 lines of self-promotional language in an article or language geared to learning/adding additional value is OK. Keep it simple and closer to the end of the article. If your overall article content is good, we’ll approve it.
Where we won’t is when your article adds no additional value and you sneak promotional jargon in to an already thin article.
June 21, 2010 at 2:35 PM[Reply]