This is piggy-backing off of my last post a little, but go with it!
A key idea that we have discussed in Valerie’s class is that a piece of writing can always be edited and revised. In a way this is saying that a piece is never complete, never perfect. In your opinion, how true is this statement and why? Are there exceptions to this? Even more interesting, do you follow this model? For example do you go back and edit your papers/writing multiple times?
Thanks!
I as well thought that this point Valerie brought up was interesting. I have a hard time hearing that something can’t be complete or perfect. I feel that i have something engraved in me that says that there is a point where all your hard work and time spent will make what your working on complete and perfect. For me the key point is the time aspect. I like quick fixes and now results. Things that i want to be perfect and complete i spend the time on. Sadly there are only certain things i really strive to take the amount of time needed to make something perfect and complete, and it hardly ever is my writing. I then feel that i have settled for complete and my best effort. This satisfaction is enough for me.
I would also say that i think that the perfection many times lies in the eyes of the beholder. I may really think that what i have written is perfection. i gave it all i got, really pushed myself to extreme boundary’s to get what i have written, yet to someone else they can see so much more potential in it. To them it isn’t perfect then. Sometimes perfection comes down to the experiences and knowledge one has over another. And at that point who’s the one that gauges perfection?
This is a very interesting way to look at writing; I have often thought about this myself. I believe this statement to be true in the sense that any piece of writing will never be “perfect” simply because perfection does not exist. In my personal experience, I work until I have the confidence to say “this piece is complete”. However, completion and perfection are two completely different things in my mind. I may think my writing is complete, but never perfect. I think it’s important to teach students the distinction between the two.
I would describe my writing as “trial and error”. I may write the same sentence multiple times in a row, until I get it just the way I want. However, there is always a point I reach where more revisions would make my writing worse, not better.