Monday, February 12, 2007

Perfection is in the eye of the beholder

I feel the need to expand on something I wrote in my last post as I feel it might have been misunderstood, or worse caused some hurt feelings. The idea of the "perfect post" nomination is a nice bolster in the sometimes silent halls of blogosphere. I have only come across the concept, I believe, on Something Blue Baby's site, which is how the link was found. It is possible, even likely I have stumbled upon a reference to it elsewhere but I don't remember it. I wondered from whence it came, how one got a post dubbed PP but never enough to investigate.

Pattie, who wrote the linked perfect post noted yesterday, commented here for the first time, though I hope she finds reason to visit again. I liked the idea of her post, because as I think it does touch something that I believe a lot of us experience, which is what makes something a "perfect post" piece as Something Blue wrote in her comment - it touches us, it sparks a memory. It is true that I was using her post, and the knowledge of the PP as a jumping off point for a post that I thought was pretty near perfect. The world is incredibly subjective.

There is a bit of vanity in blogging thus creating a desire for comments, to have our work praised. But the nature of this arena also lends to critiques as well. Would l like to have a piece of my writing considered perfect? Do swans honk? Even posts that I think are really strong, I do not think of as perfect but rather their flaws haunt me as think how a different writer could do so much more than me with the story. I see every place where I rushed, where I did not paint a picture as much as simply told facts (which has it's place), where my language lacked depth. I am frequently moved by other blogger's creativity, writing style, sense of humour, ability to turn the mundane into a work of art.

Something Blue and Pattie, I hope to meet you again in these halls.

6 comments:

ms blue said...

No worries! I only wanted to let you know that you too could recognize great writing by possibly nominating Shon Richards for a February Perfect Post. As a blogger, we all love to have our work praised.

heather said...

i think your title says it, um, perfectly.

to your latter point, i also get frustrated sometimes with words and my ability to weave them into a scene that's accurate AND poetic. i think the problem is that words can't do justice to the nuances of memory. or at least, the attempt of such is oh so tricky.

wen said...

i'm not a big fan of 'perfect' (having overcome perfectionism a while back and now floundering around in the shallower waters of 'merely excellent' (grin). seriously, though, i do understand the impetus behind this--to qualify and recognize posts that speak to us on deep levels and use eloquent language to do so.

The Domesticator said...

No hurt feelings here, honestly. I'm a big girl. I write a blog because it is one of the many ways I relax. I don't claim to be good at it! *LOL*

Seriously, I think the Perfect Post Awards is a way of letting another fellow Blogger know (and everyone else) that a piece they wrote touched something in us in some way. I have nominated people before whose writing may not be "perfect" (then again, whose really is?) BUT, they wrote something that to ME was significant. That's all.
Oh, I'll be back around "these halls" again!
:)

Kimberly said...

I'd love to have you join us as a presenter next month. You choose a post that's "perfect" to you and share it. We think it's pretty cool beans.

goblinbox said...

I had never even thought of a "perfect post." So much depends on context. I've read damn amazing posts, but they were amazing not as stand-alone pieces of writing but in the context of the blog as a work-in-progress, written by a person in the midst of experience.

Hmm. A perfect post. Hmm.

You're never omega, babe, I'm certain of it. In anything. ;-)