I do. Every time I write something and have someone critique it they come up with a better sentence, and when I take the better sentence and modify it and have someone else critique it, they once again come up with a better sentence than the one I just modified. What's the point in writing if someone is just going to write it better? (Don't worry I'm still writing, I'm just kind of ranting because it seems like no matter how much I write it's still not good enough even with revisions). I guess I got to learn to be content.
Hey, you'll always find someone who's better, but it can be a valuable learning experience. Take something constructive away from it, and thereby improve yourself. Writing isn't a competition (unless it's quite literally a writing competition, of course ). There's an old Chinese proverb that goes something like... "Seek not your equals, seek your betters..."
Or you just got to learn that you are awesome as well, even if other people also are awesome. Just think about how many different peoples work you do appreciate. With your line of reasoning there would just be one top writer and none of the rich and lovely variety we see in thousand and thousands of different writers at different levels.
Maybe you could ask your critics to just tell you what they don't like about the sentence, ("it's confusing", "it's too convoluted", "it's sort of funny when I think you meant to be tragic") and not to suggest specific rephrasings. (And, yeah, I'm guilty of the rephrasing thing, but I _might_ be able to critique without it, if I were asked. ) I think that over time you may start to feel better about this, as you develop more of your own style. There are zillions of writers who are better than me, but the more I write in my own style, the more I'm able to focus on improving my own writing rather than comparing it to that of others. ChickenFreak
Not really - are you sure the sentences aren't just different ? There are times when people suggest sentences and I like them. Other times I think what are you on that isn't Angus' or Socrates' voice.
When I trained MMA I'd always seek out the people who were better than me to spar with. Got my bell rung a bunch of times, came home with sore joints a lot, but I got pretty damn good pretty damn fast. I just had to really swallow my ego enough to put myself in that position where I was consistently getting my ass kicked in the gym so that I could improve. Had to kill the part of me that always wanted to "win", to be "better", in training, because I wasn't in the gym to win, I was in the gym to become a better fighter.
The great writing of others is a reminder that this is indeed something worth aspiring to. Otherwise, reading my own poor drafts, I'd probably decide that the whole enterprise was pointless and quit. But reading excellent writing by others encourages me.
Right answer. There will always be people better than you, unless you are a Hemingway or a Shakespeare perhaps. It should make you want it all the more and work hard for it. I know it works that way for me.
Go find something that you wrote a while ago and you might find that you can suggest a better sentence for yourself. You (probably) write better than you did before. Don't be discouraged, be encouraged! To answer your question - yes I used to feel that way, but then I realised that someone will always be better than me at everything, but no one else *is* me, so no one else can write like me .
I feel discouraged when I read something I wrote years and years ago, and I find myself thinking that I couldn't possibly write sentances as beautiful as those today. As for other authors - no, haven't found anybody who could discourage me. Quite the opposite in fact.
You should never be content with your writing. That's another way of saying you'll settle for second best. Before you submit your work for other people to read are you really sure it's the best it can be? Perhaps you need to take a more critical look before you post it. Don't be too easily content with what you've written. Those people who you think write better than you have probably done the years of hard graft and learning to get to that point. Don't resent that, take it as an inidcation of what you can achieve with the right attitude and learn from them. And I agree with Elgaisma, some suggestions are not necessarily better, just different. Don't get disheartened. We've all been there.
But you do realize that one sentence doesn't make a story, don't you? Simple declarative sentences, which seem ordinary, can make a great story if other elements of your story are working. It all depends on how you use and place your sentences.
This is where reading a lot and reviewing other's work is good. It helps you know what works and what makes up a good story. I know my plots are great, my characters are good, my technical writing is improving hugely, my SPaG is going from OK to good. I know it because of the stories I have read in the past. I know what I love reading and I put it in my books. My first book was completed five months ago it had an enjoyable little story, characters people who read it enjoyed reading. It was ready and stood as good a chance as anybody else's with agents and publishers. However I decided to put it into a contest and reread it, I still enjoyed reading it but realised my writing had improved and I could do a better job - so decided to rewrite it. Glad I have it has gone from good to something I am incredibly proud of. Your writing will improve as you practice but you need to know yourself know what is good and when you can do better. Also when you can't.
I agree, but knowing when something is 'good' comes only with experience. God knows I thought my first few attempts as a kid were great. I read something the other day I wrote when I was 15. It wasn't bad, but not quite as good as I thought at the time. Fifteen years later, my 'standards' of what is good are so, so different.
Learn to be content, but don't lose your ambition to improve. Think of it as you would wealth. No matter how rich you are, there's always someone richer - If you let it get to you, you'll never be content.
I agree with you. But I think a lot of people don't take the time to read their own work with a critical eye. Then they become disheartened when the reviews aren't as good as they were hoping.
I don't get discouraged by the fact that there will always be someone who writes better than I do, as I think your work is still worthwhile if it's not the absolute best. Critiques can be discouraging at times, so I generally wait until I am completely finished a work before I let people tell me what's wrong with it.
Yes, I do. I do. I don't know why - I know I'm a horrible writer, but when I see somebody flow their words in a mere forum post like this, I get angry. I give up and stuff. I suppose I'm not the persevering type.
By that logic, only one person (whoever the Greatest Writer EVAR is) should ever write anything. Everyone else should just go home. But think of all your favorite authors -- at least SOME of them had to have SOMEONE who wrote better than them. Do you think it would have been better if, because of that, they didn't bother to write at all?
