We all know that perfectionism can be debilitating. It can rob you of the joy of writing and cause you to waste endless amounts of time fidgeting with your material.

Just like a rainbow, perfection is an illusion. You can chase a rainbow but you will never find the end of it. In the same way, you can chase perfection but you’ll never reach it. As author Neil Gaiman said, “Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.”

Here is a simple cure: pretend you have one year to live. With this knowledge, would you continue to work on this piece or would you move on to the next thing?

Perfectionism tells us the lie that we have all the time in the world. The reality is, you don’t. Your life has an expiration date. But unlike the food products in your house that have an expiration date, you don’t know when yours is.

It’s never a bad thing to maintain a sense of urgency about life. If it were all over a year from now, how would that change your writing?