Chasing Excellence

“Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.” ― Vince Lombardi

I would have liked to have played for Lombardi. I think that it must have been quite the experience being part of his team. I expect that it would have been filled with the usual roller coaster of chaos and conflict but there would have been good times too.

Probably more good than bad.

I feel like I am chasing perfection and working hard to at least catch excellence. I haven't succeeded nor have I failed...yet. I say yet because it is a journey and the damn thing doesn't end until I die or give up. Well, I haven't died nor given up so I say that I am still climbing that hill.

It is scary and exhilarating. There is more at risk than ever before but my gut tells me that this is where I need to be and what I need to be doing. I am pushing myself to take that extra step and to somehow grab that brass ring that is almost out of reach.

Three blogs. I am trying to keep three blogs going. There is this one, TheJackB and Words Left Unwritten. There is a point and a purpose to each blog and if they work as they should they will help me meet and or exceed the goals that I have set for myself.

TheJackB is my primary blog and I can't help but notice a million little things that need to be fixed. Two months ago I purchased a license for Headway and have spent a chunk of time trying to build a blog that looks good. I am getting closer but I am still not there.

I am not a designer or a programmer so I give myself some latitude to screw things up but it is frustrating to me not to be farther along with it than I am. If I find a decent child theme I may end up adopting that.

Words is where I am working on the story that I am going to build my book around. It is another work in progress. I feel like I have a decent start but there is a long way to go. Sometimes I write posts that I don't publish there.

That is not how I usually operate. Most of the time I publish what I have written regardless of how it looks. My work tends to be pretty clean but like all other writers there are always things that I could do better. Publishing it all provides me with a sandbox that I can practice in and an easy way to see my growth.

But the story is different. I want it to come to life without looking like Frankenstein's monster. I want people to see what I see, hear what I hear and to feel the rhythm of my words.

So I write and write and write some more. It is all about chasing perfection and hoping that I can somehow catch excellence.

This post is part of the Just Write Project.

7 comments:

debi10kids said...

I understand your need for perfection and your need to not publish it all (which is why I sometimes do private posts...just for me alone)
Sometimes I juts need to let myself ramble it all out but just don't want anyone to see all the ugly, you know?

Twenty Four At Heart said...

Twenty Four At Heart is a Headway blog - but I got help to make it look pretty. I migrated from typepad - and man, do I have a lot to learn. WP is so different from what I'm used to. I figure it will take me months to fine tune things and get them the way I want. By then, what I want will probably change! : )

Sober Julie said...

striving for perfection has stopped me from writing my book for years....and probably will for a while longer.

A friend recently told me to "puke it out" onto paper....lovely but the gist of it is correct, she says editing takes place after the purge.

Stopped in from Just Write

Jack Steiner said...

@debi9kids I don't mind sharing most things here or on TheJackB but my 'book' blog is a different story. That just feels more personal to me.

@Twenty Four I like Headway. I have version 2.something or other. I bought it just before they introduced the new one. It is supposed to be easier to use. It is not yet compatible with the prior version but once they get that fixed I am going to start using it.

I kind of enjoy learning how to use it.

@Sober Julie I think that there is value in just writing. It is easier to stop ourselves because it is not perfect than to write.

Galit Breen said...

I love those phrases, and I love that you're in the chase. Go. For. It!

CJ said...

Oh, Lombardi. How we could use him now!

Jack said...

Hi Galit- That is what I am doing. We'll see how it all works out.

CJ- He was something special.

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