Dreamer, I'd say that I'm "misunderstood" but I can't be misunderstood if I don't show people my work, and... I'm convinced that I'm obsessive about little details...
I am currently The One Who Is Uncertain. If I had read this when it was first posted, I'd definitely have been the Dreamer. But I'm starting my second draft on Monday.... as long as I can get these pesky details ironed out.
The Compulsive Micro-Editor/Polisher The one whose manuscript was finished months and months ago, but who doesn't actually do anything towards publication, because there are always sentences to be reworded, scenes to be cut and expanded, and punctuation to insert or delete. And that's before the current beta reader gets back to me. And I have to wait for my new beta reader. And the one after that. Oh, look, feedback! More editing to do! Never mind if the book might be a Yugo. I'm gonna polish it up like it's a blinking Porsche.
The skeletal Writer The one who thinks there is always something lurking behind the surface, always smiling because it knows it will win in the end.
Definitely the dreamer for me, I've been known to email drafts of my work to myself in case of disk failure. Hoping this is the year I can finish it - cause yay no more studying means much more free time. Also the one who is eager to learn. I'm pretty new to this writing a story thing (even though my ideas been floating around for a year) so a lot of the time I'm reading about how to write rather than writing.
THE ONE WHO WANTS TO BE AN AUTHOR BUT HATES ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING HE WRITES AND DOESN'T WANT ANYONE TO SEE WHAT HE'S WRITTEN BECAUSE OF CRIPPLING SELF DOUBT AND ANXIETY AND ANYWAY IT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE HE HAS TO DEVOTE ALL HIS TIME AND ENERGY TO A JOB HE HATES BECAUSE IT'S BETTER THAN BEING WITHOUT THINGS LIKE MEDICINE AND SHELTER AND HE CAN'T EVER WORK ON THE DAMN THING WHEN HE HAS A MOMENT IFF WORK BECAUSE THERE'S A MILLION OTHER THINGS DEMANDING HIS ATTENTION AND SHOULD THE PLANETS ALIGN AND HE HAS ACTUAL FREE TIME HE'S TOO DAMN MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTED TO DO ANYTHING BUT RECUPERATE SO HE CAN START THE WHOLE FRIGGIN PROCESS ALL OVER A-FRIGGIN-GAIN.
How about: Old Warrior You've been at it for for nigh on twenty years, maybe forty, but you're just not quite there yet. You've written dozens of novels, but none you have faith in, none that live up to the visions you have for them. Because when it comes right down to it, you've got no confidence in your writing at all, no matter what the beta readers say. There's always something more than needs to be fixed before it's ready for prime time. And that's pretty much me in a nutshell.
I identify with the Insecure Writer way more than I should. I can never find a balance between caring about criticism, but only caring to an extent. I'd like to add the category of "Frustrated Writer." This is the guy who is forced to spend his time writing stuff that isn't really his passion. That's me too.
