I ask because, well, when I reread my drafts, I do it with a grin, even though other people might point flaws in it. But I suppose every author thinks his/her piece of writing is the greatest thing ever (or, at least, not the greatest thing, but a pretty good thing) until other people read it and tell them their opinions. But should we be more self-conscious of our writing? Should we be more critical of ourselves instead of waiting for others to critique our work?
My opinion is, yes, it's good to be proud of your writing. But if you find out you are deluded, it's also good to be ready to correct your course.
I don't know that it's pride in my writing I feel. Pride that I've made a commitment to doing what it takes to get better. Sticking with it, even though I have a long way to go. If I was proud, I wouldn't have had such a hard time bringing myself round to posting in the workshop. Truly, I do just do what I'm capable of, in the hope of improvement. I write the odd bit I get satisfaction from but the constant questioning overshadows that aspect a bit. Edit: It's almost as if , if I allow myself to feel proud of the writing itself, I feel it'll not get better. I have to find fault. I have to scrutinise but still don't have a full grip on what I'm doing yet, so it's ongoing.
There are bits and pieces within my various writing that, yes, I am proud of. Overall, when I finish a piece, after all the writing/rewriting/editing/revising, I'm satisfied that I've done my best. I think that's all one can ask.
You can be proud of your writing and at the same time understand that it still needs improvement and editing. As my grandfather used to say, the day you stop learning is the day you die. I think many aspiring writers suffer from the opposite problem - not having enough confidence in their writing. As a result, they worry endlessly about whether their writing is "cliche", seek to vet their story ideas and think they have to "brainstorm" plot and character ideas with others, a kind of writing-by-committee. So, take pride, pat yourself on the back and get back to work.
I am proud of my quality but I am never happy with it because it could be better if I knew more and if I put even more effort. I hate the idea of people reading what I wrote... makes me feel overly self-conscious.
If I wasn't proud of it (or at least happy with it), I wouldn't have the drive to keep going. Why continue writing something you feel isn't that good? Or so my theory goes.
I believe that a lot of writers are the most critical of their own work. No matter how good other people say it is, it's never good enough. But I do think it's possible to be proud of your work despite this. At the very least, be proud of the fact that you had the dedication and discipline to finish a story/novel/whatever.
If I thought my writing was terrible, I wouldn't write. I see flaws, but I also see some good. Sometimes, I'll read a chapter and think, "That's pretty good."
I definitely have a...very different situation. I don't hate my writing, but I don't know that I'm necessarily proud of it, either. I know I've written a couple of "gem" sentences, paragraphs and pages in the past, but it's not necessarily what I have written, now. So, I can be really displeased with something that I've recently written, but keep in mind that I am capable of better work, which prevents me from just giving up writing altogether and keeping a hope that I'll be able to fix my writing.
The most important thing is to keep working at it. When you see that you've written something that doesn't ring your chimes, take a good look to see where it fell short. Take out something you've read that you thought was terrific and that might be similar to what you are trying to do. What did that author do differently? What can you learn from it? "If you keep at it, keep playing, you should get better. You're supposed to get better." - Willie Nelson.
I agree, though I'm more of a "let it it sit and come back later," sort of writer. If I re-read and try to fix things immediately or shortly after writing something, I tend to be overwhelmed by the "IT'S CRAP! KILL IT WITH FIRE!" impulse, trash the piece, and resolve myself to rewrite it better. Whereas, if I leave it be and come back to look at it with a more analytic approach (my "editor's eye" as I call it) instead of my creative/make-it-perfect approach (my "writer's eye"), it comes across as something workable. But, yes, I agree with you. ^.^
Yes it is good to be proud of your writing after all writing is a form of expression and if a person can express themselves in a creative manner they should be proud of that.
I think I feel pride about my and Kat's stories, but it's more about just that, the stories we tell, not so much the technical execution (even though we occasinally stumble upon some nice ways to put things). I'm proud we've tackled some controversial subjects (and managed to upset a few people along the way ) and of the way we've treated them. Still, the technical execution always needs more work even if the story is finished. Then again, it's kinda like in sports: I know I'm pretty good at some stuff and I'm proud of that since it's the result of hard work, but there are guys and gals out there who could run circles around me and I'm thankful for their existence since they show me what I might one day become if I work hard enough long enough (and the right way).
God yes! It's very good to be proud of your writing! In fact, it's wonderful! Because if you're proud of it then you're confident in your piece. In many of my situations, I find myself disgusted with my pieces a lot of the times. Yes, I'm very unhappy with things I write. I feel I could DO BETTER. Which is a good thing too. I critique myself pretty hard, in fact. I wish I could give myself a pat on the back like you, but I'm much too hard on myself.
Thanks everyone for the answers. I didn't want to sound like I'm overly confident, though. When I say I like what I write, I'm referring to my technique. I've been told by several people I have a good text. But before starting my story I had never written fiction as a serious exercise before, so there may be things in my style reminiscent of technical writing which I need to iron out before considering sending my text to editor approval. But I do have problems, especially with plot. I feel like I've written myself into a corner with some choices I made, and this bothers me a lot.
I love my writing. When I re-read my old works, sometimes I don't remember writing those passages at all and I love them. Then I go back to see who the genius was who just cracked me, so completely, up... and it was ME! I have actually written jokes that when i re-read them years later I didn't get them. I couldn't understand why so many people thought they were all golden. Until I rediscovered some topical humor that brought it all together. Like 5 years ago, an overdosing-Amy-Winehouse-joke might have been hilarious. Today...
Day after Christmas my son and his girlfriend (they recently moved in together) had the parents over for dinner. He spontaneously complimented my writing when the subject came up I was writing a book. He said it was actually good writing. The proud feeling hearing that is still with me.
No problem with being proud of it, just so long as you do not become too self-satisfied. Being proud of something you work hard at is natural, and perfectly understandable and justifiable.
I can't even imagine being that self-satisfied. I think one reason I proud is because of where I started and how recently I was there. I only started writing 2 years ago and the first stuff I wrote was night compared to the day my writing is now. I feel great about that accomplishment. I have much further to go but I'm confident I can get there.
I can't either. But I help people with their writing and the thing I hate is when people cannot take criticism, or proudly show me their work asking for a critique, and then being shocked and offended when I give them a critique.
Since when has being proud of your work meant you do not critique your work? The two are not mutually exclusive.
