zlacker

The point about being too worried about writing something that isn't good is likely why I write about half of what I should be writing. Because every time I consider it done, I go back through the article, reword the intro, change a bunch of sentences that don't sound right this time around and still keep thinking "no, this is nowhere near as good as it could be".

I don't believe talent is innate or anything like that (which seems to be the main assumption in the article, that people who procrastinate believed skill is fixed). I believe full well anyone can become a better writer.

It's just my ambition is probably higher than my actual skill level, and I simply can't accept anything I don't see as 'perfect'. So I get stressed, take a break to do something else, get stressed even more and only get the determination to finish on some random day when I feel like finishing everything.

On another note, I wonder how much worse this 'imposter syndrome' and 'perfectionism' has become with the move to CMS systems like WordPress?

Because if you install certain plugins for those scripts (like Yoast), it grades everything you write according to a Flesch–Kincaid readability test. As a result, I find it's very easy to get distracted and worried by the giant warning saying 'improvement required' and end up focusing more on that than what you're actually supposed to be writing about.

Makes me wonder how many writers have been left paralysed with the fear their work isn't 'good enough' simply because of the script they use to write their work in...