How do you guys find the confidence to show others your work?

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by scribbledhopes, Dec 12, 2009.

  1. TheSilverBeetle

    TheSilverBeetle Member

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    I always lose confidence. Stephen King? Oh man is that a guy to compare to but there are also books I read when I think "Hey I can do this." Like the Hunger Games for one.
     
  2. Nakhti

    Nakhti Banned

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    Not really. If I saw something similar to my idea, and it was done better, sure I might think 'what am I wasting my time on this for?' but I've never seen anything like my idea. And everything out there which is not as good as my idea just makes me believe in it even more :D
     
  3. Mallory

    Mallory Contributor Contributor

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    Not discouragement, for me, but there's definitely a sense of challenge and the bar being raised.
    But that's okay - I like competition. :)
     
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  4. Cerrus

    Cerrus New Member

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    I'm never lose confidence when I read a good story. It usually inspires me to write. It sets the goal in my mind that I want to write something just as good if not better.
     
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  5. BlankLink

    BlankLink Member

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    Oh, I do. But there are a lot of bad works out there as well that have actually been published. This, in turn, lifts my confidence.
     
  6. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    No. I enjoy seeing good writing, and getting inspiration from it. It's another opportunity to learn.
     
  7. whiskeyjameson

    whiskeyjameson Member

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    Nope. Or I'd have never learned what good writing is. In contrast, I'd have never learned what some bad writing is. There has been times when I've thought: "Wow, I never really would have thought of that," but that's always in context of the story.
     
  8. mugen shiyo

    mugen shiyo New Member

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    Yes, especially when I see really good movies with a great story or great action. I feel dwarfed by it as if someone raised a bar I couldn't possibly leap. But I continue anyway. I just want to write something out. Doesn't matter if it's the best or not.
     
  9. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Not for me. I'm inspired by great writing. I may never get there, but it shows me what is possible in my chosen medium. Reading writers like James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, Anthony Burgess, and others teaches me to aim high. I won't always score, but if I do, then WOW!
     
  10. Acanthophis

    Acanthophis ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Contributor

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    I lose confidence when I see how much money the idea has made. I'm not a big fan of money (meaning I don't see it as drive like a lot of people do), but it sure as heck would be nice to make a lot of money like JK Rowling did with Harry Potter. Despite your opinions on her series, it made her extremely wealthy. I'd love for something like that to happen, and that's what demotivates me or makes me lose confidence. I see good stories as motivation though!
     
  11. There_She_Goes

    There_She_Goes Member

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    I definitely do. But don't worry, it's not rare at all. In fact, most writers feel puzzled if they're either forced or just inclined to compare their texts with other peoples texts. The same reaction can be seen when a writer has to prove himself/herself to another person (for example a teacher... :S)
     
  12. Tashanel

    Tashanel Member

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    I'm not. When I look some good quality movie (Idea, Conversation mechanism and Montages) and mostly it was short movie, I feel like Cogito. It's another opportunity to learn.
     
  13. VM80

    VM80 Contributor Contributor

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    Reading or watching great stuff has always inspired me no end. Made me want to do better.

    That doesn't mean my confidence doesn't take a knock at times. But I try to put those things into perspective; use them as means of learning more
    and growing as a writer etc.
     
  14. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    I enjoy reading/watching great material but also it makes me depressed sometimes about my own abilities. With the movies, I keep reminding myself that it's usually teams of people working on the screenplay, wardrobe, casting, stage props, camera work the whole lot, I can't compete with that. But awesome books inspire me, they make me feel that if I try hard enough, I might be that good some day :)
     
  15. Tesoro

    Tesoro Contributor Contributor

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    no, I don't, I find they inspire me and try to learn something from them.
     
  16. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    I just think I want to be able to do that lol. I'm currently working on a detective novel and a sit-com script and I want them to be that good.
     
  17. Yoshiko

    Yoshiko Contributor Contributor

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    This.
    Watching a good film/reading a well-written book makes me want to write.
     
  18. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Good writing inspires me. Good films entertain me. Games are irrelevant.
     
  19. Metus

    Metus New Member

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    Why are games irrelevant? Pac-Man or Halo or Call of Duty, sure. Those are visual displays. They have no stories or characters to speak of. But Mass Effect, Dragon Age- games like those have writing better than most movies.
     
  20. Carthonn

    Carthonn Active Member

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    Perhaps he's an ancient old fart? Games are mostly irrelevant to this demographic. Oh, Don't forget Metal Gear.
     
  21. NeedMoreRage

    NeedMoreRage New Member

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    If you continue to doubt yourself, it's unlikely you will get anywhere. So no, I don't become discouraged from good writing. Once you break a story down, it's not nearly as intimidating. especially when you see its faults.
     
  22. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Never saw a game with multifaceted characters of great depth. Even role playing games. I never saw a game that created powerful mental images using only words. Games by their nature are graphic presentations that can be manipulated by the player for his/her amusement. I'm sure there is a treasure-trove of fan-fic style material, there, but there is absolutely nothing of particular value that I could see coming from it, either as material to consume or to inspire me to produce. And, since the OP asked for personal opinions, that is mine.

    Am I an "ancient old fart"? Ha! The worst kind! But, if you want to be a writer, you should know that "ancient old" is a redundancy. I am not ancient, myself, but I prize some things that are. I firmly believe that most of what pop culture loves is garbage. I think too many people are too easily led by others. I believe that the best writing is that which looks at things differently. I like music that doesn't fit comfortably into established genres (realizing that the whole notion of a genre, whether in writing, film, music or even games, is nothing more than a marketing tool). Does that make me an "old fart"? Not in my eyes, and that's all that counts to me.
     
  23. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    I have to say some of my storytelling skills have come from RPGs, (along with many other sources like songs, TV, movies etc) the ones from the early 1980s were entirely text based so had no visual representation. The Suikoden series has wonderful little character studies which I have loved for years and I find as gripping as a book. There are others but it is the only one I've bought a whole games console for ;)

    Shakespeare is much better in the visual than being read, but he's stlll good ;) Like my heroes when it comes to characterisation (Dolly Parton and Shakespeare) a really good RPG can build a great character in just a few lines, it has to. Some of them have exceptional dialogue in amongst the infodumping. As a writer I need to just fill in the visuals and stage directions.

    I suspect George RR Martin has also been inspired by them as it would explain his plot structures and casts. I know RPG games have had a very real impact on my contemp/epic fantasy hybrid.
     
  24. mootz

    mootz Member

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    lol, actually no. At least not now.

    When I first started writing, I was intimidated. Now, I know I can write on the level of some of the best writers out there. The problem for me lies in the fact that writing a good passage is a lot easier than a good book. I feel like a middle school kid who can dunk a basketball well, I know there is a chance I can make the pros (as a star or a bench player, doesn't matter at this point). Every time I see something good, I just know I'll be doing the same thing in a year or two for someone else to watch or read. It's exciting, very exciting.

    That being said, there are still those writers--or those chapters, for that matter--where I am completely blown away and left thinking, 'where did that one come from?'
     
  25. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Having said that have you ever thought that about your own work lol ?

    I love coming back to a story I wrote a year or two ago and reading whole chapters I don't remember writing. It's like reading someone else's work ;)
     

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