The Death Knell of Trying Too Hard

Last night the other mammals of my pack and I loaded into the family truckster and toodled off to a drive-in movie. Yep. They still exist. First up on the screen was an animated flick called Home. My review: el stinko.

Not that the animation wasn't great. It was. In fact, this movie had all the ingredients of what makes a memorable family-friendly classic . . . a young girl on a quest to find her mother. An underdog hero who turns into a champion. Humor sprinkled throughout the whole end-of-the-world type of plot. So why the stink bomb rating?

It was trying too hard.

Even though all the elements for a great story were there, it still fell flat because they were just that. Elements. Like the writer simply ticked off the boxes on a writerly checklist. There was no risk. No freshness. No soul. The writer was clearly striving for perfection instead of simply reveling in telling a story.

What's the fix for this? While you're writing your first draft, forget about the audience and delight in the storyworld.

"It's better to write for yourself and have no public,

than to write for the public and have no self."

~ Cyril Connolly

Readers can tell when you're trying too hard. Perfection is not the end goal. Authenticity is. Be yourself in your writing, because there's no one else who can say it like you.