A review by afreenksm
Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien

5.0

This short story is an allegory for Tolkien's own battles with perfectionism, procrastination and the distractions that kept him from publishing any of the Middle-Earth novels for years.

"At any rate, poor Niggle got no pleasure out of life, not what he had been used to call pleasure. He was certainly not amused. But it could not be denied that he began to have a feeling of-well, satisfaction: bread rather than jam. He could take up a task the moment one bell rang, and lay it aside promptly the moment the next one went, all tidy and ready to be continued at the right time. He got through quite a lot in a day, now; he finished small things off neatly. He had no "time of his own" (except alone in his bed-cell), and yet he was becoming master of his time; he began to know just what he could do with it. There was no sense of rush. He was quieter inside now, and at resting-time he could really rest."

A very important read for anyone who has struggled in the creative process.