David Foster Wallace On Perfectionism, External Validation, & Overwhelming Projects
“If your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything.”
The following quotes were taken from a 1996 interview on The Leonard Lopate Show, where David Foster Wallace shared candid reflections on writing while promoting his acclaimed novel, Infinite Jest.
In this article, David Foster Wallace’s thoughts on:
The Struggle Between Ideal and Reality in Writing
The Dangers of Perfectionism
Creativity Can Be Overwhelming
…And more
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Praise and External Validation Aren’t Everything
“Reviews aren't for the writer... and reading them is rather like eavesdropping on two people talking. It's very tempting to do it, but you always end up getting your feelings hurt and they're not designed to help you. They're not for you. They're for potential buyers.”
While getting good reviews feels nice, they aren't meant for you as the writer. It’s easy to get distracted by what others say about your work instead of focusing on actually writing. Remember, you should write for yourself, not just to please others.
The Gap Between the Ideal and Reality in Writing
“The fiction always comes out so horrifically defective, so hideous a betrayal of all your hopes for it. —That was about what it's like to write the thing and how marvelous it seems when it's in your head and how real and therefore imperfect it seems when it comes out.”
This is something many writers experience. You might feel frustrated when your finished work doesn’t match your original idea. Understanding this can help you keep going, even when your work doesn’t seem perfect.
The Danger of Perfectionism
“The perfectionism is very dangerous because, of course, if your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything... It's actually kind of tragic because it means you sacrifice how gorgeous and perfect it is in your head for what it really is.”
Wallace warns that wanting everything to be perfect can stop you from finishing your work.
If you focus too much on making your writing perfect, you might never share it with anyone. Accepting that mistakes are part of writing can help you complete your stories.
“The book is imperfect, but I also know that the book is exactly the best I could have done for the three years that I was working on it.”
The Nature of Working on the same project for 3 years
“Most of my brain was given over to this [book].
It was hard to get around in the world for a couple of years. I didn't do anything else. I was teaching part-time at Emerson when I started this, but one of the things I did is I didn't work for two years.
And I lived in an apartment in Syracuse that was roughly the size of most people's front hall. And it was kind of neat because the book... I mean, I know this sounds very cliche.
The book became realer to me than Elements of the Real World, which various friends remarked on.
It was neat, but there really wasn't any way to get away from it. It was sort of like having something shackled to your skull.”
Writing can consume a writer’s mental space, to the point where it becomes difficult to separate from the project.
This happens to you when you get so into your story that you think about it all the time. This shows just how much time and energy it takes to create a long book.
"I had an idea that I wanted to do something long and kind of sad, and I knew it would take at least a couple of years. I didn't really know how long the book was going to be and how long it would take to write."
Don’t Overthink it
Interviewer: Were you thinking in the writing of this book that you were redefining the novel form, at least for yourself?
DFW: No, I think when you're writing something, especially something long, your thoughts are more like, geez, does this person seem halfway alive? Is this halfway interesting? I mean, you know, big, big pretentious thoughts about structure. They're just lethal.You know, the minute you start thinking about that, the thing's dead.
You might struggle with this, too. If you worry too much about fancy ideas or how to make your story fit certain rules, it can stop you from writing at all.
Instead, focusing on making your characters real and interesting can help you create better stories.
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