How I Deal with Imperfection in My Stories

Ignore it.

You may be noticing that many of my posts involve my lack of motivation to work on my stories. I've been thinking a lot about my novel from last year (and not a lot about the new one I'm supposed to be working on). I'd really like to do more with, well, any of my stories, but whenever I heave free time, I tend to use it on something like reading books or looking at stuff online. Yes, some of that is researching stuff for my new novel, but no, most of it not productive. I think one thing that was discouraging about Aubrinn's story (for lack of a better title) was that I had (and still have) so many problems that it doesn't feel like it will ever be finished. I'll just keep finding new problems. And I'm not even to the nit-picky stuff yet!

But like I said, I'd like to get it as finished as I can. And not doing anything with it is not going to help. I guess I just know it's going to be hard and I don't want to have to figure all the problems out. It's easier to just ignore them. But that only works for so long.

I think my fear of problems is also a factor in my hesitation in working on any new stories. As a perfectionist, I don't enjoy doing things I can't do really well the on first try. And editing shows me that my writing ISN'T perfect. I don't really expect it to be perfect, but I don't like seeing how far it has to go either! And I'd love to have people read it and help me edit, but seriously, the document is so full of notes to myself, holes, and highlights marking what I need to change, I think it would be hard to decipher the story!

Well, for now you'll have to settle for my synopsis. I just typed it up for someone else, so I figured I might as well put it here too. At least you'll get an idea of what it's about (or supposed to be about)!

"Princess Aubrinn is heir to the throne of her father’s kingdom, Alendais. At 16 years of age, Aubrinn believes she is old enough to take on more responsibility in helping her parents rule. The king and queen think otherwise. Aubrinn loves to lead and help people, but she despises etiquette and lessons in protocol, and her mother is determined to improve Aubrinn’s ladylike skills before the princess becomes queen. Aubrinn prefers adventure. Or so she thinks.

Another person in Alendais desires the throne: Aubrinn’s treacherous cousin, Tynon. Tynon and his surreptitious plans prove a threat not just to Aubrinn’s position but also to her entire kingdom. Will Aubrinn learn what she truly needs to lead her people in time to stop Tynon? What will she have to give up to keep Alendais out of Tynon’s selfish hands?"