I have discovered a secret!
Want to hear it?
It's a good one.
It is ...
How to give your ego a healthy deflating.
What is this trick?
Give your work to someone else - someone honest - to critique.
I sent a couple of short stories to a writer friend yesterday. She sent the first one back covered in notes. Now notice - I am THANKFUL that she did that. So very, very thankful for a true assessment that was also gracious. Because how will I ever improve if I don't know where I'm falling short? And how can I ever hope to get published if my writing is not as tight and clean as possible? So thank you, Andrea, for your meticulous and honest assessment (and also for the kind words at the start about what you liked!). And thank you also for pricking my ego (not that you yourself pricked it - seeing the amount of work still required on something I thought fairly tight pricked it. Just to be clear.).
You see, it's been a little while since I've had anything fit to send to anyone for critiquing. And in that time, I'd been starting to feel pretty good - even safe - about my writing.
I'm not saying I'm suddenly thinking I'm not a good writer - but that I didn't even realize how complacent I was getting about my writing until someone else looked at it.
Self-esteem = good. Complacency = bad.
I know I am a good writer. I also know I can be a better writer. It was that latter part that, without me realizing it, had been starting to slip. And it took a 3000-word story covered in honest (and for the most part very basic grammar and phrasing) corrections to jolt me out of that and remind me that hey, this is real work, lady, and writing cleanly is just as important as creating compelling characters.
So, that is my self-discovery for the week. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some editing to do.
Oh, good luck! And it's amazing what critiques from honest beta readers can do! I've rewritten and edited so many times because of this--it's SO invaluable, and I'm so grateful to have people who rip apart my writing, LOL.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds odd, doesn't it, to talk about how glad we are for people who tell us what we're doing wrong? Only in writing do we get genuinely excited - YAY, look at all these red pencil slashes! - because it shows us A) that there is a core of good work underneath that just needs to be made stronger and shown more clearly, B) that there are people out there who care enough about us to help us improve, and C) we have a chance to make this even better, so that the heart of the story comes out more clearly to the reader.
DeleteAll very good reasons to get excited about having our writing ego pricked!
So glad you got a helpful critique. Sometimes, that's exactly what you need to point you in the right direction. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you! The only problem now that I'm finding, is that with a bit of direction and guidance, I am suddenly wanting to turn this short story into a full-blown novel so I can explore the characters in depth! This is why character-driven writers should probably NOT attempt short stories, I guess :-)
DeleteIt's great that you even try. I love blogging and my friends have encouraged me to write a book, story, etc. but the thought of all the work involved, and worse, failing because I never think I'm good enough, is a fear I don't think I'll ever get over. So kudos to you for even putting yourself out there to begin with.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the stories come far easier than the blog posts. I've always loved writing fiction, but thinking up interesting non-fiction blog posts week after week is honestly more intimidating. Just the way my mind works!
DeleteI always need extra eyes! It's hard but my work is always better off.
ReplyDeleteIt's remarkable - I can go through my ms five times and my eyes skip over basic mistakes every single time. My betas look at it once and pick out almost all of them. Hurrah for extra eyes!
DeleteOh the deflation. It must happen. Ouch, though.
ReplyDeleteThe nice thing about deflation is that the next time you get built up, it's on a more solid foundation, one that's not as easily pricked.
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