The Paradox of Perfection: A Guest Post by Peng Shepherd
If you’re a perfectionist, this one is for you. Peng Shepherd’s latest novel, All This and More, is her unique take on a choose-your-own-adventure story. Read on for Shepherd’s exclusive essay on the roadblocks she faced while writing this book and the struggles of perfectionism that we all face. Here’s Peng, in her own words.
Hardcover $30.00
All This and More: A Novel
All This and More: A Novel
In Stock Online
Hardcover $30.00
What if you got a do-over for your entire life? This unique take on a choose your own adventure story asks what it means to create change — and whether or not you should. This is perfect for readers who loved the big-heartedness of Emma Straub’s This Time Tomorrow.
What if you got a do-over for your entire life? This unique take on a choose your own adventure story asks what it means to create change — and whether or not you should. This is perfect for readers who loved the big-heartedness of Emma Straub’s This Time Tomorrow.
Our whole lives, we’re taught to strive for perfection. It’s not enough to simply enjoy something, or even be good at it—school, career, hobbies, bodies, love—we must be the best at it. And the more relentless a person is in their pursuit of this goal, the more admirable and successful the rest of us consider them. No matter what else might be sacrificed in the process.
I’m no stranger to this unwinnable quest. As a child, anything less than straight A’s was unacceptable to my parents. In my teens, I spent a decade dancing classical ballet, an art which demands precision, grace, and form at all times—even atop pointe shoes. Then, I discovered the most difficult passion of them all: writing.
Writing a novel is its own special lesson in perfectionism—or the impossibility of it, rather. When inspiration strikes you, it’s crystal clear. This new idea is all you can think about when you’re awake, and sometimes even haunts your dreams at night. You know the shape and size and feel of it like the back of your own hand. In your mind, it is perfect.
But then, you go to write it down.
Every single time, it amazes me how difficult translating the magic in your head to words on a page turns out to be. Any author will tell you the same thing: you try for months or years to get as close to that original vision as you can, draft after draft after draft, and no matter what, you never quite reach it.But that pressure to make the story flawless is immense, and it feels like you can’t let go and allow the book to be finished until it’s not just close, but absolutely… you get it.
My third novel, All This and More, explores the dangerous allure of this concept. It’s the story of down-on-her-luck Marsh, who’s given the power to rewrite all of her past mistakes, which, in theory, would allow her to make her life incredible beyond her wildest dreams. But of course, what happens is much more complicated than that. The closer Marsh gets to achieving her goal, the less satisfied she feels, and to her surprise, the harder her life becomes. Because it turns out that to make something truly perfect, she might have to give up the most valuable thing of all.
Ironically, writing a novel about one woman’s pursuit of perfection has helped me learn to embrace its opposite a little more. The truth is, writing a perfect book is impossible—there’s no way to please every single reader in the same story—but even if you really could, then actually, your book wouldn’t be perfect. It would be boring. The beauty of art is in its individuality. Its imperfection.
It’s a great lesson for authors, but it works pretty well for life, too.
