Opinions are like an onion. The layers never end. Oh shit. They do! I guess there's only so many opinions you can have...
I always get this way when I get a good critique done on my work. Takes me sometimes four or five tries to get through the review because I get so ashamed of my own skill level and showing others. I hate my own work very often.
@Savannah Leandra, My sympathies! Take a break, and go back to the way your first wrote, for the pleasure of it. I edit each paragraph after I hit the enter key, but just for SPaG and obvious mistakes, like attributing dialogue to the wrong character. I don't try to polish each paragraph as I write it, though I am visualizing the scene as a write, so I try to capture the sensory part of the scene, the sights, the smells, the feels in the first draft. If I attempt to do extensive editing as I write, it will be bring my writing to a dead stop. Writing is, as you once found, the joy of creativity. Editing is the critical process ... what the heck was I trying say here, and why did I write it the way I did? ... and it kills the enthusiastic creative spirit. Just write, don't look back, keep telling yourself it's emerging as a great story. When you reach THE END, then put on your critic's hat and go back, edit and revise as necessary. The story is in place, now all you are doing is polishing it.
And oh yes, forget 80K words, my flagship book was 240K, and I spent 2 years editing it many, many times, with one professional edit. As one very successful writing friend said, with 40 books to his credit, edit until you can't stand to look at it again, then edit again.
Only for about the last 50 years, Lol. 2 things: Finish The Story That is the only goal that matters - until it is done. It can't suck if it doesn't exist. Write Without Fear Don't be afraid to write something over again, 10 times or 100 times. They're just letters. They don't bite. This also means make the points you want. Make the characters the way you want. Make the world the way you want. Remember, it doesn't suck until it's published, it's a work in progress. Finish it. It can un-suck after it's done and before you publish, everybody forgets that. If you can write how you feel about writing, then you can write how a character feels about anything. PM me 250 words about your main character.
