Sincerely, I understand how this can rob one of beautiful things. It's more like the fear of failure. Perfection is a good thing and should be pursued by all means, but you need to understand that you don't have to be perfect at the first try. Perfection will come with consistent practice.
And that your writer friend, maybe they just wanted to challenge you to want to show him that you can be better, or they are just jealous; because I can see here that you write well.