Tuesday, May 26, 2015

You're Writing And Your Writing Sucks

I want to begin with stating, you are not alone. What you are facing, or have face, or will likely face during your writing is common and every author goes through it. At some point, in the middle of the latest "work in progress" you will come to the realization that you are pathetic. Your writing sucks, The characters are awful. Your editor is going to fire you immediately. Your agent already hates you without seeing the book.

Oh but wait, it gets better! Your family and friends, the great defenders of everything you do are about ready to duct tape your mouth shut and tie you to that desk chair to make you get back to writing.

The issue is simple - you are the only person who believes this at this particular moment.

Self-confidence is simply one of those demons that can completely wreck the career of any writer. That darn self-doubt is not a fun character to hang around with. But you simply cannot ignore that
voice. You have to do something to get over it. In some cases, it is simply because you are tired and need a break.

In this case, it is time to return to Disney for this one and the words of our favorite character from the sea, Dory.

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." (now the song is stuck in your head!). Stop writing the chapter that brought on all of this negativity and move on. Start a new project for a day or two. Read your prior story that you totally love and recognize you are not a bad person.

The nice thing about moving on and ignoring that road-bump in your writing is that you will find the answer. As you are plugging your way through the other project, you will discover nothing is wrong, or that you have the solution.

Please understand that this will not always fix the problems. There are cases where the story does suck. Your writing at that moment is not the best. But, in most cases, this is a minor glitch you have to work through. Just remember, you are not alone and you CAN still write.

1 comment:

  1. This rings true for me lately! Once I'm beginning to think that the entirety of a short story or longer work is down right awful and horrid, that's when I know it's time to switch to a new project. I am trying to improve my revising skills and that means facing my writing flaws. First drafts are fun because you don't have to think about those flaws. Second drafts and third drafts (and fourth drafts and fifth) all are facing those flaws and awfulness. But you have to - YOU MUST - to get better.

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