I'm mainly a humor writer. I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and it manifests as an unhealthy level of perfectionism. I have a very harsh opinion with my own work and leads to avoiding writing for months or longer. I think this site will be really good for growing as a writer. I need an outside perspective on my writing so I don't jump to irrational conclusions, and know what specifically I need to work on.
Welcome to Writing Forums, Hadouken! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirments. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself and Cogito) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
Welcome to the forums Hadouken! I'm currently on medication for anxiety and depression, and I am also extremely critical of my own work. After beating myself up over how awful it is, I feel worse, which just deepens the cycle. I mention this because the wonderful people in this forum have helped me greatly. Yes, there are always negative people, but I've found many encouraging people here who have good things to say and who have helped me get through my periods of self-doubt / self-loathing. I am very hopeful that you will find help here also. Keep writing! I look forward to reading your work.
They say you're your own worst critic. I've sat there and thought about how terrible my writing was even after others have told me they loved it. The thing is, you can't stop writing because of it. You'll lose the momentum and your work WILL suffer as a result. If you think it's truly that bad, I'd say you should review it. Review your own work as if you are reviewing someone else's, and even talk during the review as if you are not the writer, but rather a third party. I'm serious! Review your own work (and be honest when you do), see what you feel is wrong with it, and apply that to your next work. Of course, self-review is NO substitute for a review by other writers. Oh, uh, and welcome.
