Oh that's great that you convinced him to do it and that he ended up being excited! I know we are going to come across the same difficulties with writing. DS5 stopped wanting to write long ago when it wasn't turning out how he wanted it, and we have had a hard time convincing him that it gets better with practice and that it doesn't have to be perfect. I think outside reinforcement helps (e.g., piano teacher saw DS's piano workbook and asked "Did your mom write those half-notes? No? Those are great!")

Any clues as to how you convinced him that perfection was not required?