I assume you are a rather shy and introverted type of person, correct? Speaking as someone who is a borderline recluse, i can somewhat relate to this experience. My big problem is names; names of people, names of factions, names of races or places or anything at all. No matter what i come up with it always seems kind of stupid the more I am exposed to my names. Although i can relate to this problem with content as well. I am currently nearly finished writing the draft of my first novel which is basically Me: The Book. I'm not really sure what advice to give you besides, "stop being shy."
I think it is very healthy to be critical of your writing up to a point. EDIT: I started typing an over-long and wordy response below, sorry about that: - There are many people who have a rather inflated opinion of the things they produce; and the things they produce are invariably shit; but their delusion and arrogance prevents them from ever improving. They are the people who will never ask a question and will instead sit sagely nodding their head to something they do not understand, or react with disdain when the limits of their knowledge are laid bare rather than seeking to learn more. If criticised it must be the critic who is wrong, because their work is infallible. And then there are people who are so scared of criticism (perceived rejection) that they will never reveal their work. They will suffer the same fate as the arsehat I described above, but for different reasons. As with most unpleasant things, the best way to deal with it is just to get it done. Post you work, get the critiques, improve your work.
I agree with other posters - this is a totally normal state, and it's also totally counter-productive. Try to get some distance from your writing. When someone gives you a critique, they aren't criticizing YOU, or even your writing in general. They're just looking at one particular piece of work. This may be easier if you ask for really focused criticism (and find a reader with the discipline to confine her comments to that topic). Like, instead of throwing a novel-size bundle of paper at someone and saying, "is it any good?", try posting a few paragraphs, saying, "I've been working on my characterization. Does character X feel real, to you? Would you want to read more about him? Please ignore everything else and really look closely at character X." It's a slower approach, but it's definitely faster than never showing anything to anybody.
Word. Welcome to my internal torture. I can never create the story to the potential it has, so am finding it harder and harder to start down the long road of perpetual disappointment. I've got two film ideas a director friend is desperate for me to write, but I know I won't be able to capture the idea the way I see it. I don't feel ready. As for the second question, it's their opinion, so ask them.
Does your perpetual disappointment change when you find out that other people value—even "get"—your work? Or do you still feel it's so imperfect that you can't enjoy it at all?
It changes. I do get a sense of achievement when I get genuine praise. It's good confirmation I'm on the right track. I had real doubts about my first script attempt, but was encouraged when people were responding well and wanted to make it. (It didn't end up getting made.)
I've been trying to do many creative outlets in my past, and I had a really good friend who once told me to not care about what people think. It's actually a bit more complex than that. I realized that the best work, and that of which I'm most proud of is the one that I do according to MY desires. I often thought "Oh I wonder what some reader would think about this story, I better make it simpler, I better make it cooler, I better ..." and I realized if I thought like that it would NEVER be good enough, because you can't please everyone, and by caring what others thing, you're trying to accomplish the impossible. Teachers are humans too. And all humans have the ability to be good mentors as well as oblivious bastards. Which one your teacher is, you can probably find out. I was really passionate about stories and fantasy but I always had bad grades in my mother language because I hated old history books and stories. The professor kept looking down at me, and at the end of the year I told him I will write a book, and I hope that he will read it. He just kept himself from laughing. It can be truly discouraging when people dismiss you without knowing what ideas and universes you carry in your head. It's a mistake, and it's important that you spot that they're doing a mistake and not let it bring you down. The mind is an overly complex thing, at the end, write even if you feel like it's bad. Just keep going. Then tweak it, and fix it, and make it to your desire. And then finally read it again and while you're doing it be 100% sure it's what YOU like, not what your teacher, brother or mother likes. If you want to bend the boundaries and develop that feeling of no care, find something private, something you love but you'd never share. Sexual or perverted thing you like, revel in it and write it down. You'll never share that with anyone, but imagine it so you know what it's like to not truly give a damn. Fight that little bastard inside that tells you you're bad. People don't take it seriously but if you feel bad something isn't wrong. Slap the crap out of him, play some music, get angry at yourself, resist! It's like a mental parasite. Oh and next time ask your teacher what it was about your report or article that was bad. If they give you real facts, like needing certain detail, certain points of view, learn from it and apply it on the next article. If they give you some BS excuse like "I didn't like the style, It lacks passion, It's boring" or "It's just not good", that's a sign of a person who doesn't want to spend time on you. I just want to add to you that you should sit down, and write. Even if it's bad. "Don't wait for inspiration to come," it will come when you sit, and fail for 15 minutes, and after that you get in tune. That's why studying becomes easier after a while. If you have ideas you're ready. Also start with a positive attitude. Play music, find a source of inspiration. It's a lot to swallow at once but find a way. Resist the pull downwards.
Thanks, but I did. I'm well past that stage. I'm experienced enough now to have lost the sense of adventure and am now stuck with the workload as my first thought when an idea strikes. Not just the workload, but the expectations. Back when I used to just write there were no expectations. But I have found the source of new inspiration. I just need to secure it.
Writing can be a bitch really. I just get so confused that one day I think I'm writing the work of gods, I gasp and enjoy it, and tomorrow I'm like "How the hell did I manage to create something this good?!" Inspiration really is important to grip by the throat not let it escape. Glad you're doing better
@Ralinde "Being a writer is a scary thing." "I'm a certified perfectionist" Made my day. Man, do I agree. Murakami said you have to have the physical and mental strength when you write. You have to go to the dark place at the bottom of your soul and have the strength to go back to the surface. Bring the treasures back to the light. One thing I had no clue about was that a good writer must learn -- among other things -- this: at certain point not to give a f*ck. By very stating my points, my beliefs, describing what my character does and why I may piss sb off. And I will piss sb off, not that I want. But in order to stay true to who I am, I have to learn this. It seems we all -- ALL -- say the same words at the beginning of our journey: "Hey, I've got a great idea but you know, I kinda like don't know how to start." We all have great, incredible, brilliant ideas Hollywood would die to make into films. We are all geniuses. But one thing here, if you don' render that piece of brilliance on the paper, nobody will know. It's also good to assume, rather than being a genius, being commonplace -- it hurts less. Trust me.
It's wonderful when someone gets what you want to say by your writing. So reassuring. And even then the person has no possibility to perceive that very notion with your eyes, simply because they are not you. But still, it's beautiful.
2/ first...thorough sounds like what a history essay ought to be; you've covered all the salient points of Napoleon's life. Does it really need to be well-written in an essay? As has been mentioned, only the teachers who say that can tell you what they mean by it. Do they mean impeccable grammar and spelling? - you've spelt ideas two different ways above, so one of them must be wrong. Go back through your work to eliminate those. If it's a matter of style, what sort of style are they looking for? Churchill, for instance, based his style upon Gibbons' Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire - and a superb, sonorous style it is, too - but it's probably dated now. Or could you borrow some of this well-written work from your more praised class-mates to try to analyse what they're doing right. (Bear in mind that what they're doing right may simply be having parents from the right side of the tracks!) 1/ Writing is, like war, 99% boredom and 1% blind terror...or perhaps it's 99% blind terror of sullying that pristine white page with your inadequate thoughts. If you're afraid of spoiling that virgin page, stop being a paper vegetarian...if everybody became vegetarian rather than eat any of those cute little animals, we'd have to kill all those cute little animals to stop them eating all our vegerarian food, in the same way that if there weren't writers, there'd be no need for paper! Just get on and write it, then (quite a bit later) go back and re-read it, keep what you like, change what you don't. Repeat. Another poster on this site (Edfrom NY) has commented, very sagely, that the first million words are your apprenticeship. Don't reckon on becoming any good until you've put in the work. You may be the exception that can just write, but do be prepared to put in the work.
I have almost the same problem, but I right on my own, even though I know that I am not good. Practice makes you better If you want to share your ideas with other, you have to open up, man.
Reading this a long time ago gave me a lot to think about concerning (my own) shyness: “Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people.” - Andre Dubus
I like this. It corresponds to what I said earlier about not giving a damn. I'd love to eradicate such quality. Hope it's possible.
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I will try just writing anything on a daily basis. Just for continue writing whatever it is that you've been working on. This will unblock your writing skills
I'm stuck I've been sitting on one paragraph for over an hour. I KNOW what I want it to talk about, I KNOW what information I want to reveal to the reader in it, but I haven't a clue on how to turn it into several sentences! I've written down at least 5-7 different sentences and have been unhappy with each one. I hate how it's slowed me down.
That's frustrating. I'd just scribble a note in the space, and write beyond it. It's like trying to remember something ...the memory will return eventually, but probably at 4am or something like that, when you wanted it to appear at 6pm earlier in the day. Your paragraph will fall into place eventually. But feel free to say GRRRRR....a lot!
I don't find that easy to comprehend. Five years of solidly trying, several hours per day, or five hours at one hour per year? Was there a horse to get on?
I think this is what I call the 'analysis paralysis' or 'early editing' contributor to writer's block. The suggestion is to skip past this part for now, and move into the story, come back to it later during an 'edit' stage. I found it very useful to bring these challenging paragraphs to my writer's circle that meets monthly. In the meantime, I've at least written a few more thousand words and the story is developing. I had a writing instructor who was a 'pathological tweaker' - she would finish her story generally, then go back and edit, edit, edit... eventually she just had to put a stake in the ground and call it 'done' and submit the manuscript. If you push that obsessive perfection to the creation stage, you will not get past it, because there are an infinite number of ways to 'do it right'.
When you are writing; do you feel more comfortable with a blank page in front of you, with words at the top or is it mentally easier with the page full of words and your text appearing at the bottom? Sitting closer to a laptop screen makes me want the words closer to the top (so I can see them) and I feel more comfortable filling a blank page. But I have to keep scrolling down and then back up, to move the words to the top. But I wonder about the psychology of a blank page. I like it. I know some writers have mentioned the dread of seeing a blank page which needs to be filled. [digression alert] NEEDS to be filled. If there was an ED version of writing, I think some would get it from the anxiety of seeing all that empty space that must be filled. Alas, there is no medication for that... but now I am making up terrible puns of what the name of it would be WB (Writer's Block) treatment emails in my junk mail folder.... "Scribalis. For whenever the urge to write, strikes."
