Thoughts & Things

Not Good Enough (Yet)

As a writer (and as a person), I feel like I am constantly growing. I think that constant growth is incredibly important, and I feel like it is also important that I do things to foster that growth. I take free online courses; I watch movies and television (fiction and non-fiction); read books, articles, comics, magazines (again, fiction and non-fiction); listen to music; and play games. I like feeling like my knowledge in general and my knowledge in the world of media is constantly expanding and growing.

I like seeing different methods of storytelling, and analyzing why they do or do not work. I like getting different information, and seeing how I best absorb that information. I like to experience the lives o others through media. I like seeing what different people and places are like. I like enjoying a taste of other cultures through the media that those other cultures consume.

It is also incredibly important to practice writing. What you know doesn't do you any good if you don't make use of it. It's part of why I have been practicing with more prompts lately, and why I have been more consistent with my blog writing. I won't get better if I don't practice.

I fancy myself a passable writer. I don't think I am a bad writer at all, but I know that I have a lot of room for improvement. I have a hard time measuring this improvement, and recently I realised that I have a goal that is fairly measurable. I have a story idea. I have had this same idea for years, but every time I try to get it out, I get it completely wrong. Not being able to get this idea out honestly has had a big impact on my confidence as a writer. It makes me feel like I am a bad writer. It makes me feel like I have bad ideas, and that my stories aren't worth telling.

What I have come to realise is that getting my grand idea out isn't impossible. It isn't that the idea is bad. It isn't that I am a bad writer. The problem is that the idea is good. It's very good, and it has a lot of potential. My writing skills are okay. My story idea making ability has surpassed my actual writing skills! This is not an insurmountable issue. This is something I can overcome. I just need more time. I need to practice. I need to work at things I have less experience with. I need to work on better writing habits. I need to work on completing longer pieces. I need to work on improving everything. Eventually I will be able to write my idea into a short novel.

Basically, after a lot of reflection, I have determined that it isn't that I'm not good enough. It's that I am not good enough yet. I may not be good enough now, but if I work at it, some day I may be. I think I have really learned a lesson that can help me through a great many struggles. Practice makes perfect, and I have finally found a way to incorporate that expression into an area of my life that is practical and attainable.