Inneresting 72
issue 72
October 15th, 2021
In Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, he shares Costica Bradatan’s fable about perfectionism:
“[There was] an architect in Persia who designed the world’s most beautiful mosque: a breathtaking structure, dazzlingly original yet classically well proportioned, awe-inspiring in its grandeur yet wholly unpretentious. All those who saw the architectural plans wanted to buy them, or steal them; famous builders begged him to let them take on the job. But the architect locked himself in his study and stared at the plans for three days and nights then burned them all. He might have been a genius, but he was also a perfectionist: the mosque of his imagination was perfect, and it agonized him to contemplate the compromises involved in making it real. Even the greatest of builders would inevitably fail to reproduce his plans absolutely faithfully; nor would he be able to protect his creation from the ravages of time—from physical decay or marauding armies that would eventually reduce it to dust. Stepping into the world of finitude, actually building the mosque, would mean confronting all that he couldn’t do.”
Clinging to imaginary perfection trips up storytellers, but it can be avoided.
Cautionary tales of perfectionism
Simon Abrams narrates animator Richard Williams’s unfinished, decades-long attempt to produce the film The Thief and the Cobbler.
Little White Lies explores how Orson Welles started an adaptation of Don Quixote with $25,000 from Frank Sinatra, and never finished it.
Allison McNearney presents the story behind an unfinished portrait by Paul Cézanne.
Kristopher Jansma breaks down how Gustave Flaubert read 1,500 books as research for his unfinished novel Bouvard and Pécuchet.
Ways to avoid perfectionism
Make Your Own Rabbit Hole looks at how negativity bias fuels perfectionism.
Tema Okun argues how the concept of perfectionism is a form of white supremacy, and that perfectionism and excellence are not the same.
Dr. Michele Borba offers suggestions to help kids avoid falling into perfectionism (and some of the ideas could help grown-ups, too).
The Highland Philosophy
Just write.
There’s no fussing with settings or cycling through menus to get a professional looking document. Highland 2 was designed to get out of your way and let you focus on your story.
Our quick start guide can have you crafting a screenplay in minutes.
For more tips on how to get the most out of Highland 2, check out our Knowledge Base!
Other Cool Things
Artist Lenka Clayton assigns you a project: Reproduce someone’s cherished childhood object.
Author John McMahan gives his take on the importance of setting your protagonist up for a good clobbering.
If you need a fast, free, minimal way to share text as an image online, try Typocard.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
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