writerly ways

[cornerofmadness]

Having Confidence and striking when the iron is hot. These are two things I lack in. Sad but true. It was more true when I was younger. I just found a stash of my old stories.

In the 80's I was writing psychic detectives. My writers groups laughed at me (well some of them liked it others derided me horribly). That is SOOOO DUMB, they'd say.

I swear every third book in my Mystery Guild's monthly offering are psychic detectives.

In the 90's I was writing vampires as a viral disease. You rarely saw that. At least with Machiavelli Moon, I DID try to publish it. I wasn't good enough with getting people's attention. People seem to enjoy the story IF I can convince them to look at it. We all know my current issues with this story. I will get moving on it. I promise.

If you don't have the confidence to believe in your story, no one else will either. Granted there are a whole host of authors that have too much confidence. They crop up in every writers' group, the ones that will criticize everyone else but can not bear to hear that a single comma might be out of place in their work. These are the people that put agents on edge and make it harder for the rest of us.

However, not enough confidence means your story is never shared, the iron goes cold and you feel guilty and torn and disappointed. Confidence is sometimes hard to come by but you need to trust in yourself a little and take that chance.


Machiavelli Moon - Unedited

Masquerade - finished but past deadline. time to edit and save it for something else.

total for the year -

44190 / 175000 words. 25% done! um you've been saying that for months now...

Myth - something new for Dreamspinner

223 / 3000 words. 7% done!

Beneath the Torn Sky -

57373 / 80000 words. 72% done!

Riding with Strangers-

36110 / 60000 words. 60% done!

77460 / 80000 words. 97% done!

Comments

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Nothing like lost opportunities due to teetery confidence. I could have written an L Word-like story long before the L Word, but now I just look like a copycat of the idea.

Oh well.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yep i hear you. I might get these stories out there one of these days but i'll just be one of the herd. eh, if it sells I won't complain too much

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

The people in writers' groups who can't take constructive criticism aren't over-confident, they're just showing the flip-side symptoms of insecurity. Or quite possibly they're looking for an ego feed and come unglued when they don't get it. I write because I love a good story and enjoy telling them, and I'm sure you write for the same reason. Using storytelling to bait your hooks and go trolling for approval isn't writing, it's just sad. A good writer knows in his or her gut when a piece of writing is right, and when that point is reached, no advice or criticism coming from outside can knock that writer off course. And if there's something off kilter that everybody in the group comments on, even if they offer conflicting advice on what's wrong and how to fix it, any writer with a grain of professionalism will take the critiques under consideration without pitching a fit and getting defensive. That's _real_ confidence in your writing.

That said, go finish something. Your writing has come such a long way over the many years I've been reading it. The only things I see holding you back now from publishing are unfinished manuscripts and slacking on the polish editing. You have the fundamentals nailed.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

you have a very good point here. I've noticed that it seems to be the people who can not TAKE getting criticized are the ones who LOVE dishing it out. Definitely an ego thing.

I AM my own worst enemy. I have no real excuses. I find ways to defeat myself...if the mouse shit doesn't do it first (I keep finding new piles all over. I could slap myself for forgetting to put out the poison before I left)