Thread: Questions for the creators...

I've been mulling around these questions for the last little bit and haven't been able to really come up with satisfactory answers. So, since I've been driving myself a tad nuts with them, I thought it only fair to share.

Now, this is for ANYONE who creates ANYTHING. From costumes to choreography, performances, music, what-have-you.

1. When is "good enough" actually good enough? When do you know you're finished of a piece?

2. If "good enough" is good enough, how did you get to that place in yourself where you didn't have to keep trying to get it "perfect"?

3. Does the finished piece ever match what you had planned?

4. Are you generally happy with the finished piece?

5. If a finished piece disappoints you, do you allow your disappointment to dictate the price?


I'm really struggling with the concept of "good enough". I know I have to learn to let the work stand for itself, but I really just want to keep working on things until they're perfect. Which means, of course, that most things I make end up being disappointing because they're not what they "should" be.

I'd really like to know how others have dealt with this...

1. For a perfectionist, it's never "good enough." You have to learn to be satisfied with "close enough." There's a point where you realize that you are making changes that don't significantly affect the overall quality of the product anymore--and may even cross the line into making things worse, and that's when it's time to stop.

2. Sometimes it's maturity and experience, sometimes it's psychology, and sometimes you just get sick of it and want to stop working on the project. If you have problems with reaching closure, one strategy is to set deadlines and stick to them. If you have to turn something over to another person, you have to stop working on it.

3-4. Yes and no. I've made things that I've been disappointed with and they didn't sell well, but other things I felt were total garbage that were snapped up. I've made things I've been really happy with, and nobody wanted to buy them, and things that both customer and I agreed were great. Time can affect how you feel about your creations. Particularly if the artistic process has been frustrating, you can finish something and think less of it than you will when you see it months or years later. The opposite can happen, too. In the flush of creation something can look better than it will with a little distance between you and it.

5. You shouldn't. Sometimes the projects that are the most disappointing are also the most time consuming. You don't necessarily have to charge for every second of your effort, but it isn't fair to say that the piece isn't worth the amount of money you'd charge for a comparable end product you felt better about. To someone else with different eyes, it may actually be worth more than the one you prefer.


For a small percentage of people, perfectionism can become a problem severe enough to affect their quality of life. If an individual feels that their perfectionism is interfering with their ability to function normally, that it creates substantial anxiety or guilt, or if those around them find their behavior unacceptably inconveniencing or distressing, there are simple, therapeutic, mental exercises that can help retrain the mind to obsess less about the need to strive for unattainable ideals.

1. When is "good enough" actually good enough? When do you know you're finished of a piece?

I feel as though a good place to start is with a good foundation. If the foundation of what ever you are creating is good, then everything else is gravy. Now, gravy can be good. Infact it can be great, but one you have the foundation in place, the basic structure of what ever you are doing, that should be good enough, as you put it.

2. If "good enough" is good enough, how did you get to that place in yourself where you didn't have to keep trying to get it "perfect"?

For me, I simply came to understand that I am not a good judge of what is good enough. I will never be completely satisfied with what I have done. But, Ihave also learned that at times I simply need to let go of perfectionism and allow plenty of room for randomness to come into platy. It is those unscripted moments which can and many times do, bring forth brilliant results.

3. Does the finished piece ever match what you had planned?
No. Although it is rare that it is unrecognizable.

4. Are you generally happy with the finished piece?
Yes.

5. If a finished piece disappoints you, do you allow your disappointment to dictate the price?
Unless it is truly flawed, no. Because as said above, many times I can not evaluate how good or bad something really is. And in some cases, people are more excited by the "flaws" then they would have been by something which was "perfect."

Now on a personal note: I love reworking older Turkish and Egyptian bedlahs and finding the one bead which is mismatched. A red bead on an other wise completely white and gold Pharonics. I have a pure silver bedlah with a green bead on the back of the belt and a pink one on the front. When asked why, the answer was, Only Allah can make perfection. There is a lot of comfort in that statement for us creative types.

{{{HUGS}}}

1 & 2.
I have a degree in fine art, and the knowledge I gained by studying art has been a HUGE help when creating costumes. Understanding things like contrast, form, balance, etc. help me figure out when a design is "off" or "incomplete." The same things let me know when I have come to a good stopping point. If I ever get stuck on what step to take or whether the job is complete, I usually show it to a friend or two to see their reactions. Also, it seems like I'm always up against a deadline when creating a costume, so when I have to dance in it in two days, the costume will be done in 2 days whether I'm entirely happy with it or not.

3.
This depends. Some costumes I start are experimental and I just attack them with a very vague idea and see what I come up with. On the other hand, sometimes I come up with a very specific sketch of my design idea and I usually follow that very closely. In those cases, my design is usually very similar, but not always exactly what was in the sketch. After all, it is difficult to translate a flat, 2D drawing perfectly onto a 3D surface.

4. I am usually pretty happy with the finished piece. If I'm not happy with it, then it isn't finished.

5. I currently only make costumes for myself.

1. When is "good enough" actually good enough? When do you know you're finished of a piece?

a piece is good enough if i'm willing to present it proudly to strangers

2. If "good enough" is good enough, how did you get to that place in yourself where you didn't have to keep trying to get it "perfect"?

after a fruitless 4 hour fabric shopping trip, i realized that there's no such thing as perfection. you have to work with what you have. often, as creators we form unrealistic images about what we are creating and we don't realize that to another person our "good enough" might be a "perfect".

3. Does the finished piece ever match what you had planned?

no. what i plan is usually a ghost-idea that only partially materializes.

4. Are you generally happy with the finished piece?

i have to be. otherwise it wouldn't be "good enough".

5. If a finished piece disappoints you, do you allow your disappointment to dictate the price?

i don't sell any of the things i make

xxx
Athena