Literally the complete opposite for me. I NEED to read really good movies/books/games to help me writing. I need to be inspired constantly. To me it's like a calling or a challenge; that one day I'll be able to top that. Like a couple days ago I read the prologue to The Name of the Wind and it's the best prologue I've ever read, and it's only one page. Just reading that fueled me to finish and write a 3000 word chapter that I was on writers block for a week.
For me it's inspiration more than a loss of confidence. I try to take what's good from good and bad stuff, and maybe even make it even better. I also like to learn what not to do from others' failures. You can learn from your own mistakes, but you can learn from others' too. The same goes for successes. Also consider the amount of terrible stuff out there in the world. Try to at least compete with that and always give it your best and you might soar higher than you ever thought you could. And don't despair if you don't end up being best (especially not at your first try). You can succeed by being, say, cheaper, or you can simply be a good addition to what's already there and people should and do appreciate greatly (and more that yours). For example: Many people re-read series like Harry Potter over and over, and while it's seven fantastic novels they would probably enjoy a good book, even if it's not as good, every once in a while, between said re-reads. Also: don't underestimate that people are very different; and many enough people might just like your work more than anything else, either because they just happened to come across you and not all the other awesome stuff the world has to offer, or because they after all of the amazing material they've gone through truly find yours the very best. Excuse the goofball ramblings of this mere mortal.
I agree. I mostly feel like this, too. I mean, if you think about it, there aren't THAT MANY fantastic books/movies/games out there compared to the amount of not-so-great books/movies/games, so trying to aspire to be just better than average is motivating. For example when I read pride and prejudice I wish for nothing more but to be able to write something that will move someone as much as that book moved me.
Double edged sword for me, On one hand i feel so awe struck by certain things and ideas, take Death note for example, how original and interesting. Cowboy Bebop is another one as far as characters go, just amazing. I can lose confidence but I also take from them, i try to make my own version of their work for excercises, try to get into their minds, help me better understand character motivations and things like that. Then take that and apply it to my own projects. Also worth remembering, Huge hitting stories are usually, and almost ALWAYS written by multiple people. The Witcher, Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, These all had multiple writers working on them. One person didn't come up with EVERYTHING. So i always think to myself that i can come up with really solid settings, characters, and a decent plot and i'm a step ahead of those who need 3 people to make one story, you know?
The Hunger Games can best be summed up as Battle Royale but if Stephanie Meyer wrote it. If you even remotely liked HG check out BR.
I feel most discouraged when thinking about what comes after I finish my book (i.e. actually trying to get my book published and out in the world) There are just so many great ones that collect dust on the shelves or don't even make it into the world and only a few that make it big. It sort of makes me feel small and insignificant. Like, what's the point?
I was a little bit doubtful about my writing, as I'd only ever let my friend and English teacher read it, so I decided to get a thrid opinion from my mum. Two words: Confidence. Suicide. My mum's training to be a teacher, so spoke her mind. I know I'm not the best writer, and I know it was a first draft and would end up getting changed anyway, but was it really that bad? I've decided what my problem is, through my mum's criticism, that I know too much about the world and the scene, so sometimes just assume the reader does too. I have a habbit of starting off with nothing, just what the characters are doing and revealing things about them later on, through speech etc. She also told me I'm way too descriptive. So, does anyone have any advice on describing effectively (without boring the reader), and subtly revealing aspects of the plot without just putting it out there as, "BOB IS A... HE'S DOING..." Any adivce welcome! Thanks!
I think the chapter on description in "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" by Browne & King is quite good. But, see the disclaimer in my .sig. As an educator (not in Fiction writing), in the long term your preparedness to receive honest criticism on your current limitations and strive to address these problems is more important than how good your writing is at present. Very few people can just "do stuff" out of the box, but if you can get into a position where you're regularly improving, then if you can keep that up, you'll get there.
Forget your mum for a minute - what does your English teacher say about your writing? Mums can 'sometimes' be over critical.
Personally I'd never let my mum read it - of course mum and dad will both be reading my novel once it's actually finished, but I'm apprehensive even of that and it'll be a piece of work I hope to publish and for the world to read. Of course it doesn't help that my parents have no idea how to write - they have their creative side but it is not in writing. My mum and dad keeps telling me I'm taking too long to finish, that I'm not working hard enough at the novel (I write almost every single day) and yesterday, in my mum's attempt to encourage me, she told me, "Just don't write so much!" (in order to finish quickly - what she doesn't get is that my novel IS finished and I'm only editing, and I actually only have 69k words which is even under the minimum average!) Either way, I think it's great you're so willing to take on the criticism despite what it's done to your confidence - your confidence will build again, it's perfectly normal to feel deflated and well, basically hacked to pieces after a negative response. The key is what you're already doing - which is, taking the criticism on board regardless of how you feel, and working hard at improving. You WILL improve, it is an uphill climb but hey, when you get to the top, it'll all be worth it And you WILL get there!
I agree totally. Learning to take criticism without wanting to jump of a cliff is a really important aspect of a writer's growth. That said, criticism from someone close to you who isn't afaid to pull punches can be a dry doughball to swallow. I never let my husband view my work because we come from two ends of the spectrum as far as writing is concerned. His ideas are so far from mine, and we are such strong characters, passionate about our reading/writing, so things can quicly come to the boil! Try to detach yourself a little from your work. Also try to detach your mum/teacher from the advice given. Take what you feel will help and discard the rest, without rancour.
This is just my opinion, but having someone sugarcoat things can be way more devastating than being told their real opinion. If you find out the hard way that someone was lying to you when they told you that your writing is great, it will suck a lot more than this. Try to always look at the bright side.
yes, i do... i mentor writers of all breeds and my standard advice is to READ! read the best works of the best writers and you'll see how they do it... that's a much better way to learn how to write well, than reading all the how-tos ever written on how to write...
Thanks for all the help everyone! I've been thinking about it, and have a much better idea now, so I can thank my mum for that! Thanks for the encouragement!
Kurt Vonnegut once said, "Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae." In other words, maybe what you wrote just wasn't your mom's cup of tea.
There's a quote by Michael Chrichton: A book isn't written on the first draft, but by editing, editing editing. It seems discouraging at times when you're on your sixth draft and it doesn't seem right. What makes a good book, beyond your skills with words, is how tight it can be edited to make good flow. As for writing confidence, and getting better, there's no magic bullet other then to work, work, work. I am of the same school of thought as Mom. Look up the top-50 novels of all time, and read as many as you can. The craftsmanship inside will give ideas, and teachings, on how to improve. CK
I only take criticism from published, objective fiction authors who work in the genre I'm in. Arrogance, by the way, is very useful when it comes to dealing with criticism. Just remember to switch off Arrogance Mode when editing or you will fail horribly.
and arrogance has a terrible way of biting someone in the rear too. Not a good thing to have in anything one attempts.
does that include 'self' published ones? btw, plenty of really awful writers do get published traditionally... would you accept advice from dan brown, james redfield, or chris paolini?
I've got a fragile writing ego too. For the longest time, I WANTED to write but I had a friend in high school who everyone mooned over and she was good at writing and she was very certain about it. (Looking back now, she talked herself up really well but...whatev.) I've grown somewhat stronger in my writing self recently but I still get hurt sometimes when I get a rough critique, especially when the story is near and dear to my heart. I don't show my rough draft TO ANYONE. It's in the rough stages, it's disconnected, it's a pile of puzzle pieces that doesn't make sense to ANYONE except you because only YOU can see the entire picture. I don't even give rough drafts to my writer friends. I polished a piece TO DEATH recently and for the first time, showed it to my mom. I love my mom - I'm very close with my family but their honesty can be a scary thing to face. They're not MEAN but it really stings when I've written something and they don't react...at all. It's like performing in front of a dead pan audience. Yipes. Sometimes knowing that it came from me seems to be a set up for boredom. But on this piece of writing that I'd polished up A LOT and gave to my mom, she actually liked it! So it was all good. Subtly bringing out things will come with lots of re-writing. The more you re-write and go over it, the more options that will come to light for spinning your yarn in an intriguing way. Have some chocolate. Soak in a bubble bath. Sulk for a few days and get it out of your system. It's okay to feel bad about it...for a little while. Then pick yourself up. Glue your butt to a chair and edit that piece of writing or start something fresh. But don't STOP writing. It's like a mystery - the more words you have on the page, the picture starts to become clearer and you can see what it is you want to say.
I can sort of relate to your predicament. In my last job, my first solo assignment was providing a formal response to certain requirements--essentially questions. My response was about 8-10 pages. When I sent my paper to be reviewed, some of the more experienced guys sort of snickered because the usual response should be 1-2 pages. It's unfortunate that many schools and colleges teach students to write 'x' amount of pages--their intent is great, but it usually results in compromising a very valuable attribute: conciseness. I think many people will have different methods and philosophy on writing. My personal opinion on the matter is that every single sentence you use must have some sort of significance. Every articulation or description must have some sort of reason why its there. In movies, there is an editing phase where filmmakers cut out scenes that they didn't think were appropriate--and in some cases, they pain over having to remove a scene they thought was very pivotal for the sake of time. I imagine it is the same for stories. So go ahead and write and write and write your chapters out. Once you've completed your draft, chisel it down. Cut out the parts that are not necessary. Combine ideas or use symbolic actions that allude to what you are trying to tell the reader. For example, mentioning the color of leaves could indicate the season and the time of day. The way someone slurs their words could indicate they are drunk. You don't have to tell us he's drunk--we already made the assumption. Readers are smart. If you give them a puzzle set with a few missing pieces, they will use their imagination to complete it. The only thing you want to avoid is room for your reader to make the wrong assumptions--unless that is exactly what you are going for.
Really? It's worked fine for me so far. And I did mention that you should switch it off when editing, right?
