Atelophobia, anyone?
Overcoming perfectionism
August 2026
According to John Updike, “Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self- solitude is the enemy of well- being.”
Despite getting some positive feedback on my work in progress, I haven’t written much lately. I attribute some of my procrastination to reading a few popular fantasy series and worrying my work in progress will pale in comparison. It sounds like my perfectionist tendencies may be getting the best of me.
Atelophobia is an obsessive fear of imperfection. Someone with this condition is terrified of making mistakes. They tend to avoid any situation where they feel they won’t succeed. Atelophobia can lead to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. (source)
When creatives feel paralyzed, they may be experiencing a form of this phobia. Authors, for instance, who page-turn through a riveting bestseller, may be hamstrung to write another word for fear they will never produce a novel with equivalent killer plotlines and lovable characters.
Comparisons rarely end well. Readers only see the finished published product. Who knows how many edits, revisions, and proofreads occurred before that successful novel made it big? Not to mention all the “practice” manuscripts that popular novelist wrote early on that will never see the light of day.
New York Times’ bestsellers get bad reviews, too. For example, the teen vampire megahit Twilight actually has 970 Amazon one-star reviews. The Hunger Games has even more (1,160) and the first Harry Potter book exceeds 400 in the low review tally. (source)
George R.R. Martin, indeed, has yet to finish his Game of Throne series because he keeps rewriting the sequel that he feels isn’t good enough. Martin may want to top his previous success, and now he has the whole world waiting to boot. No pressure. (source)
Before getting discouraged that photo, drawing, manuscript, or musical composition can never be as good as it should be compared to what has come before, take a beat. Shut out the noise. Dance like no one is watching. Otherwise, that masterpiece may never get the change to soar.