 Short Stories: September 10, 2008 Issue [#2600] |
  Short Stories
This week: Writer, Know Thyself. Edited by: esprit  
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Writer, Know Thyself.
Ups and downs, a writers see-saw. For one heady moment you know you're brilliant and then, later, with just as much clarity, you know what you do is awful. It's the writer's curse.
I've noticed this happens at certain times in the writing process. When the ideas are fresh and you're starting out on a project, the adrenaline is flowing, the words are spewing onto the page - everything seems so clear, so clever, so right.
And then after, when you look back, the words seem dull, the structure contrived and the talent - well, non-existent. But then later, it can seem smooth and inspired again and then, even later dire.
It depends on our moods I think. When we're happy and confident, our words seem to fire all the right neurons on the brain, the right words come with ease. There's more than just the words in our writing - there's a whole world, and it's good..
But then, when we're tired and listless, our brains are foggy and the words seem empty, unable to quite convey the richness we wanted to invoke. We feel nothing. We see the words for what they are - just words: pale shadows of reality with no depth, no power, no meaning.
There's no easy fix for the down time, but here's a few ideas that help.
 Have a trusted reader read your work; one you know will be encouraging.
Don't hesitate to ask for a review that mainly points out what you're doing right, limiting suggestions to one or two only.
Stay away from the review forums that say they give 'honest' reviews, because this is not the time for an in-depth review.
If low rates send you hurtling to the delete key, change the review restriction to Comments Only for a while.
Add an author's explanation to the top of the item. Reviewers are sensitive to this common issue, and the last thing they want to do is add hurt to an already discouraged writer.
Review others. Helping another will lift your mood. Look especially for items without any reviews.
The real point is that we need to be critical of our writing - at least some of the time. If we thought that what we did was always brilliant, we'd lose objectivity and we wouldn't want to improve, wouldn't even know how to improve. Being hard on our writing at the right time is what makes us better writers. But at those other, special times, loving what we do is what keeps us doing it.
Just don't be so self-critical you end up discouraging yourself. On those down days, put yourself first; change the restriction to Comments only or even Private. Later, when you feel able, open them up again.
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