(USA, Collegiate) A Deep Worry About Homework Grades

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I tend to end up with quite a few Professors who are very specific regarding guidelines. I guess the best way to describe what I am saying is I end up with Professors for whom the strict adherence to assignment guidelines far out weighs the substance of the assignment. Whenever I get a paper back with a 'bad' grade on it, I feel like I've actually harmed someone. Not that I've not performed well, but instead feel like I have actually been a harmful person. Unfortunately, I am extremely hard on myself and demand top performance, so even getting an A- is a 'bad' grade by my standards. Considering the extension of substance, I often get a piece of homework marked down for something like, say, a formatting error that has nothing to do with the actual substance of the assignment. To be honest, I even feel quite guilty about having said all of this.

I'm starting to really doubt myself. Do I hurt anyone?

Thank you.

What I found in college that works: communicate with your professors. A lot of profs have a lot of students that just don't care. Take some time and talk to them in their office hours, introduce yourself, tell them you didn't get the grade you wanted and ask what it takes to improve. While this can be difficult, trust me, it helps. At the very least, the prof knows you care about the class and and that you want to do well. I've even had some proofread my papers for me and offer feedback before I've had to turn them in. Usually they'll tell you what they look for in a paper.

Other than that, proofread. (I also had a prof that took off 10% for every grammatical error. It stunk, but he helped me through and after having him as a prof, my papers are mucho better)

Also, some professors just don't like giving out A's.

Thank you very much for the advice. I really need to be more open about that. I used to talk with Professors a lot, and then I found out that showing a lot of zeal for the class was a big turn off for a lot of Professors. So I've become really withdrawn. I guess I never noticed that until you made a comment. Thank you kindly for the advice, I think that may have been a mistake of mine. Do you agree?

That last bit...about Professors who do not like to issue As...I've noticed that as well. Is there a reason for that? Do they feel that its an extra challenge, or something like that?

Thanks so much!