Composing : Perfectionism vs. Progress by Kat Spencer

My tweaking has both decreased and/or become more streamlined since I spent much less time on it than in my early scripts. I was once on page 60 of a script, had watched some interesting vlogs concerning tight writing, so I went back to the beginning, applied the tips and now had 56 pages of the same script.

Doesn't happen these days.

Great Q, Kat Spencer ! I tend to be in the perfectionism camp. What about you?

Kat Spencer I have discovered that when I ignore those 'perfectionistic tendencies' at the early stage of composing, I usually end up going back to that point after mixing and mastering to do what I would have done earlier. And in some cases where I didn't, I find myself feeling some level of regret whenever I hear the finished piece. So, it's better to tweak till it feels right, than to move on and regret later. The exception is when I'm on a tight schedule.

Ah, the tight schedule, Emmanuel Obiejemba ! I know it well, and the accompanying line, "We'll fix it in mix!"

Morgan Aitken The delusion of "fix it in the mix"

You don’t get extra points for polishing something that might get cut.

Finish the draft.

Then go back and be ruthless.

I'm always trying to make my screenplays better. I know that with the collaboration of a producer and a director, they will evolve anyway. I'm open to that, and I try to produce a quality product in the meantime. What I don't do is obsess about it. If I think of a tweak or get a note I appreciate, I may include it. If nothing occurs to me, I let it be.

I revise until I feel like I’ve hit the ceiling then I move on to a new one. I also have a few scripts where the character is tough to be around and others have really dark atmospheres that I need a break from.

Since I'm working on what I hope to be a franchise someday, my revision centers around the fact I feel the need to perfect and sell the first script so any others would be relevant. But, I also don't mind being bitten by the perfectionist bug, I believe it's just part of my natural instinct. And, at some point things feel right to the point that I feel satisfied, and I feel comfortable at that point.

Mitchel Parod - Exactly!

Kat Spencer good question and yeah I do that sometimes. But I have learned when I work on projects to realize when I need to take some distance and clear my head, so that I can see when a project is in a place where it can be called done.

For example right now we in post-production of a feature film that I wrote and directed. I have to really watch out because I tend to start editing something myself and then I lose perspective of the entire project. Then have to take a few days off to get my perspective back again and it's happened multiple times that my partner who's editing most of the time keeps editing a scene when it already works great and if I don't have a wide view over the film I can't notice that.

I've found the best thing to help with over complicating is a good deadline.

I just finished producing a song. I compose, write the lyrics, and shape some of the transitions, but I collaborate with an orchestral engineer for the mix, master, and additional sound design. At a certain point, I realized that continuing to chase every small tweak would keep the piece from ever being finished.

By the tenth and final revision, there was still one more blend I could have adjusted but I chose to stop. Because after that, there’s always another tweak, and then another.

For me, progress means recognizing when the work lands. When I listen and feel, “this is a good song,” that’s my signal to let it go. It can always evolve later—especially if another producer or artist brings something new to it.

This project also challenged me in unexpected technical issues, miscommunication, and moments where the process became more difficult than the music itself. But even that reinforced something important: staying committed to the integrity of the work, while knowing when to move forward.

At the end of the day, I’m learning that growth isn’t about getting everything perfect, t’s about finishing, releasing, and trusting the next step.

Well this one is a bit of a landmine isn't it?

On the one hand, you tweak and edit various drafts because nobody, and I mean nobody, gets it right on the first try. Also, part of the process here at Stage 32 is putting your material in front of people who are familiar with what works and what doesn’t. You want to be able to take the advice as it comes and make your material the best that it can be. My current project has gone through some radical changes since I first started working on it and presenting it to people here on the platform. I've removed characters, I've added scenes, I have made major structural changes, and I finally have a version which I am happy with. It certainly still swims in the same waters as the original, but it is a lot different than where it started from.

All that being said, you do have to get to a point where you kick It out of the nest and move on to the next project.

If you have found yourself in a position where you have been able to pitch to someone, more times than not you will get the invariable “What else have you got?” question, and take it for me, nothing else makes you feel like more of a fraud than just having to say, “Well… this is all I've got right now but I've got a couple of other ideas I’m working on.”

Too much tweaking can make a pot lose its perfect flavour.

Too much tweaking will make a dish lose its natural flavor.

oh man - I've learned to slash over time. But it's always hard. From over-writing my masters dissertation by 100% (Thank God my husband is a uni prof who shows no mercy)...to most recent work on a 10 minute play (daunting as Hell); having a cast that thinks on their feet and aren't afraid to make suggestions. It's always a journey. Almost feels like you're drowning your own children sometimes. But we all grow on. And I'm still learning.

Is the one section a high point with an emotion needed ? I would keep revisions around 6-8 at maximum..

With mixing and mastering, time is of the Essence, !

I heard the "Fix in the Mix" at school, but it might be better to outsource those roles,

If possible. If not, buy the best sound libraries for your needs - I am.

☝️

As a seasoned on set art director and more, I learned long ago that unless you are the director chances are high that the tiny section you sweated over has a high degree of probability of being overlooked while shooting or in editing. I find it best to add in the action lines the feel you are looking for rather than obsess over description or dialog.

Any writing for me is a living document. As long as the writing is not published, there will always be small things to polish, but most of the time you know when a project is finished. Once I'm done with the structure I want, beginning and end, once I'm happy with the middle and all the other parts, all I do is polish. I come back to my unpublished or unsold stories every once in a while, sometimes I get random ideas of things I could add on other stories.

Early on, I obsessed over every detail and it really slowed my progress. As Hemingway said, ‘The first draft of anything is shit.’ Now, I try to write freely and trust the rewriting process--looking back at my scripts, I’m always amazed by how much they evolve.As a full-time teacher, writing time isn’t always easy to find, so I have to push through when I can. The challenge is balancing speed with accuracy--I still find myself making errors. It’s a fine line, and I’m not sure I’ve fully figured it out yet. How do you manage that balance?

Absolutely it has to feel right.so you must keep tweaking until it feels right then move on.

My fear was always not that I had to make it perfect but rather that it might bother me forever if it wasn't perfect.

Kat Spencer Yes! I struggle with this often. Especially when it’s a personal project with no real deadline!

Mike Hall that's a great way to look at it... like putting up some shelves in your living room!

Morgan Aitken - Hmmm.... I would say I have high standards. I know progress is better than perfection, so I don't tend to put that pressure on myself, and yet, I will not let something go out into the world until it feels done to me. I know others may still see flaws, but that doesn't seem to bother me, as long as I'm happy with it.

Mike Hall - I feel that. I think that's what I meant above about "perfect." Perfect is subjective, and what matters most is that we, the creators, are happy with it.