Am I To Be Humble, Confident, or Pitiful? (In Regards to Writing)

By Atari · Feb 23, 2009 · ·
  1. Am I to be Humble, Confident, or Pitiful?
    The problem with writing is that no one likes to receive negative criticism. Some will unwittingly defend themselves from every single piece of negative criticism they receive, even, at times, if they agree with what the reviewer has to say.

    For example, if I have given a person a long list of things that are wrong, they will address each of my points specifically, and it might look like this:




    Quote:

    You're right, there was supposed to be a period there, I just missed it. And, as for my character having green hair, I was going to mention later why that is.
    You said that I needed a semicolon, but I don't use semicolons, so I just put a period.



    Et cetera.

    I have been attempting to purge myself of this automatic defense system because, really, it is pride. Pride, and the crushing disappointment of being told that all of your hard work was poorly done, in the end.


    Some people will find a DIFFERENT system for defending themselves. They will, instead, resort to belittling themselves extremely so that, no matter what you say about their story, good or bad, will result in the response, "Yeah, it sucks," or, "Nah, it sucks."

    That way, they don't have to face their problems, but instead, pretend that they are not good in any way, shape, or form.
    I believe that there can be a goodness to this, to a certain extent. If you could keep in mind that you are NOT that good, yet; but will continue to gain experience, then you can avoid feeling such disappointment when you discover all of the mistakes in your prose.

    The problem, I think, is that we write a huge story, and desire and expect it to be great, before we ever gain true experience.
    That is what I did. I learn from my mistakes, however.

    From now on, I will write only sections and scenes, possibly short stories or unimportant stories in order to build my skills.
    When I am sufficiently confident, only then will I start on my real story.

    I need some names for it, by the way. Here are some I have so far:


    Swath of Blood and Lightning (what I'm going for)

    Atari's story (lame, generic)

    Rend -- Slither of Steel -- Asunder (I just thought of that. . . man, that's cool)


    I want it to be a name that sounds cool, something eye catching. There is some enjoyment, I think, from having a book that is not only cool, but also has good art work and, perhaps above all; a good title.

    When telling your friends, you want it to be something cool-sounding so that they're interested.

    I mean, if I was telling my friend that I was reading a book and the conversation went like this:

    Me: Hey, this book I'm reading is AWESOME!

    Friend: Yeah? What is it about?

    Me: Oh, you know, it's a fantasy, so it's got dragons and stuff. But it's kinda weird, because it has stuff that-- well, really, I can only think of the Pokemon games, in the way the weather and stuff is--

    Friend: Pokemon?

    Me: Yeah-- well, no! No, it's nothing like Pokemo--

    Friend: Uhh, huh. . . Pokemon is so childish--

    Me: IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH POKEMON!

    Friend: Fine, so what's it about, again?

    Me: Well, uhm, this guy-- I think he's seventeen or something, gets involved in this huge plot to form a monarch, and--

    Friend: Sounds complicated.

    Me: It is.

    Friend: I don't think I wanna read something too complicated.

    Me: No, I mean, well, it's not complicated, as such. The way he writes it is really simple. It--

    Friend: Simple?

    Me: Y'know. . . I mean, not simple, but it's easy to understand everything. Some of the stuff is described so awesomely!

    Friend: I like a good description if it's done right. You know, like, if it's written in such a way that I get that mental image automatically. Where the book gives pictures to the mind almost every paragraph.

    Me: Yes! That's exactly what it's like!

    Friend: Hmh-- what's it called, again?

    Me: Swath of Blood and Lightning.

    Friend: DUDE! Why didn't you say that sooner? Let's go to the book store and buy two copies.

    Me: Two?

    Friend: One to display on my desk. The other to read.

    Me: Gotcha.



    Ooh, man. That's good stuff.

Comments

  1. Eoz Eanj
    Yeah
    I agree with you there.
    And it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy for a few seconds for I know that I'll never really have a big, wrestle-you-to-the-floor, problem with recieving negative crit. because I already know what I've written has already died in front of me. It makes me feel somewhat satisfied that I'm happy to admit I'm a poor writer because I simply do not practice my 'craft' nor do I express much interest in trying to improve it.
    Who knows, maybe I'm just too hard on myself and I need to stop being such a dang defeatist.
  2. Atari
    Well, if you are not attempting to become skilled sufficient to warrant publishing, or if you simply do not intend to be published, or if you write haphazardly or slapdash with no emotional attachment, then I see no reason you should care about whether or not someone posts 'negative' critique.

    Negative is not, I think, the proper word, as it denotes negative connotations. A person revealing a mistake is, one might say, a positive thing, as he has now pushed you one step further toward good writing.

    Easier said, however; than done.
  3. Eoz Eanj
    I only write to share what's going on in my head..

    So you are right in saying that I haven't a reason to care if someone posts negative critique.
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