How often are you proud of your writing?

stace001 · Mar 20, 2006

Hi all,

I have just finished my third novel, and for the first time, I am so proud of myself. Not just for finishing it, but for the writing itself. I gave a couple of copies to my beta readers, (both male and female) and I've had nothing but glowing reports.

I've been working with a remarkable "Development Editor" on it, and he has taught me so much.
I look back at my first and second novels now and almost cringe. I'm just so proud of it, I wanted to tell someone.
I can't stop thanking my D.E. :Hug2:

Mistook · Mar 21, 2006

I see writing now as setting up a framework first, then you streamline it, fill it out, furnish it, etc. So I have draft chapters where I'm proud of it's basic layout, but I know it will need a lot more work before it's done.

I guess you could say I'm proud because I know I can get it into shape... proud that the framework is up and it's solid.

And with other chapters, more proud because they are more developed, and I haven't muddled them up with a lot of garbage, or lost the point. Some are near "perfect" and readers have reported back that they saw what I saw. They were excited about it for the same reasons as I was.

But there's a lot of layers to it.

banjo · Mar 21, 2006

I look through my various works and pick out the exceptional passages and I'm very proud. Some of it I believe is so good, it's as if someone else wrote it and I'm admiring their talent.

I've gone back and looked at some older stuff that I started writing but haven't got back to complete, and sometimes I find a part that is pure poetry, and I wonder what inspired me to write that so well. And I think, if only all of it flowed like that.

It's the satisfaction that I get from reading some of my writings and the feelings that it is really good, along with the need I have to say my piece that drives me to write. Doesn't everybody feel that way?

triceretops · Mar 21, 2006

Yea, there are certain passages that I'm very proud of where I've used the best words and no other substitues will do. I think I excell in dialogue sometimes, and re-read certain areas that make me laugh, and that's when I know I've brought out good characterization. But I'm only vindicated for a novel-length manuscript when an agent or editor flips over it and tells me so. Or when I'm compared to a famous writer, as I have been sometimes in the past. These are all great little ego boosters, and god knows that we can use a good dose of those.

Tri

Bufty · Mar 21, 2006

Congratulations. I bet you were also proud of the first two at the time. And rightly so, I think. Every step in the right direction should be a cause for a little self pat-on-the-back even know we know we can do better. After all, it's the 'up' moments that spur us (Newbies like me anyway) on and there's never enough of those.

I'm proud when I finish particular passages or chapters and feel they are clear and convey exactly what I wanted. Wish it happened more often.

A Development Editor? Aren't these specialists who concentrate on plot and structure etc? You obviously feel it was worth while - forgive my asking, but was it relatively expensive and what prompted you to go to one?

stace001 said:
Hi all,

I have just finished my third novel, and for the first time, I am so proud of myself. Not just for finishing it, but for the writing itself. I gave a couple of copies to my beta readers, (both male and female) and I've had nothing but glowing reports.
I've been working with a remarkable "Development Editor" on it, and he has taught me so much.
I look back at my first and second novels now and almost cringe. I'm just so proud of it, I wanted to tell someone.
I can't stop thanking my D.E.

Shadow_Ferret · Mar 21, 2006

No, my own writing makes me cringe all the time. I'm my own worst critic which probably explains why it's rare that something leaves my grasp for the outside world.

However, that said, when I read something after years of ignoring it I'm often surprised at how not bad it really is.

maestrowork · Mar 21, 2006

We should always be proud of our achievements, even if they're trunk novels or a "stupid" GED or the first time we drove a car... The point is that we always learn and grow from our experiences, even in hindsight those experiences or efforts were rather "dumb." Just as we're always proud when our children take their first wobbly steps, or speak their first incomprehensible words, because they're part of something wonderful.

/end sermon

Jamesaritchie · Mar 21, 2006

Proud

Being proud of my writing is not someting I usually think about. There are rare occasions when I have to re-read thngs published in the past, and a couple of pieces read well enough that I wouldn't change a single word, even years later. I suppose I'm proud of those few pieces, but it really isn't something I think about.

newfieval · Mar 21, 2006

Proud

I am very proud of my current novel which i am working on. The characters are strong real people that i might encounter day to day in the city which i live. Its like a adventure because even though i have a storyline i am not quite sure how it will end i will just have to let the characters decide that

LightShadow · Mar 21, 2006

I'm proud of my work until I sit it down, forget about it, and then pick it up again later. Then I say to myself, "how am I capable of such horrid storytelling?" Every once in a while a passage will surprise me, though, and I gloat a little, but it's rare. Bradbury says that a good writer is never really satisfied.

Julie Worth · Mar 21, 2006

It has to do with how much ego you have in the thing. Since I take dictation from spirits, I never cringe, I just see what can be improved. The only time I think it is bad is when I think everything is bad. That happens when I read some really artificial, but otherwise well written.

Simon Woodhouse · Mar 21, 2006

I'm proud of little bits. I wrote a short story a while ago and entitled it The Pearl of Evening, which I thought was a lovely phrase. In the novel I'm writing at the moment one of the characters refers to dieing as 'going into the nothing', and I like that as well.

Finishing a novel doesn't really fill me with pride; it's more a sense of relief.

Danger Jane · Mar 21, 2006

Yeah, when I've spent forever on a passage and can't see anything else to improve...it's a pretty good feeling. But I still spend hours trying to tweak it more, to make it better. So even if I really like something, I always assume it's got something wrong. Maybe not the BEST assumption to make.

stace001 · Mar 21, 2006

Bufty said:
Congratulations. I bet you were also proud of the first two at the time. And rightly so, I think. Every step in the right direction should be a cause for a little self pat-on-the-back even know we know we can do better. After all, it's the 'up' moments that spur us (Newbies like me anyway) on and there's never enough of those.

I'm proud when I finish particular passages or chapters and feel they are clear and convey exactly what I wanted. Wish it happened more often.

A Development Editor? Aren't these specialists who concentrate on plot and structure etc? You obviously feel it was worth while - forgive my asking, but was it relatively expensive and what prompted you to go to one?

Normally they can be very expensive. But if you can believe it, he did it out of the kindness of his incredibly huge heart. When I first approached him, I was after an objective critique, and instead I found a new friend and D.E. He's a published author himself, fiction and non-fiction, and a wonderful mentor. So not only did he teach me more than I could ever have learned from books, I also gained a new friend. :Hug2:

Bufty · Mar 21, 2006

WOW! You lucky son-of-a-gun! I'm delighted for you.

stace001 said:
Normally they can be very expensive. But if you can believe it, he did it out of the kindness of his incredibly huge heart. When I first approached him, I was after an objective critique, and instead I found a new friend and D.E. He's a published author himself, fiction and non-fiction, and a wonderful mentor. So not only did he teach me more than I could ever have learned from books, I also gained a new friend.

stace001 · Mar 21, 2006

There were times during my last two novels when I've re-read passages and thought, "Damn, that's good." But I don't think I've looked back over a whole ms and been so proud I've wanted to burst. I have that feeling with this one.

stace001 · Mar 21, 2006

Bufty said:
WOW! You lucky son-of-a-gun! I'm delighted for you.

Thanks Bufty, I think I'm pretty darn lucky too.

Cat Scratch · Mar 22, 2006

Congrats, Stace! What a great feeling I've yet to achieve. I'm a perfectionist by nature who never seems to be truly happy with an entire ms (yet). I can look at pieces and love them or read the whole and be satisfied, which is pretty good for me. And at least I recognize that they're getting better (and easier) each time. My current ms is most certainly the best I've ever written, but will not be the best I'll ever write.

stace001 · Mar 22, 2006

Cat Scratch said:
Congrats, Stace! What a great feeling I've yet to achieve. I'm a perfectionist by nature who never seems to be truly happy with an entire ms (yet). I can look at pieces and love them or read the whole and be satisfied, which is pretty good for me. And at least I recognize that they're getting better (and easier) each time. My current ms is most certainly the best I've ever written, but will not be the best I'll ever write.

Thanks Cat. It is a wonderful feeling. I love your final sentence. "My current ms is most certainly the best I've ever written, but wil not be the best I'll ever write."

I'm going to print that out and stick it on my wall. What a great motivational thought.

LightShadow · Mar 22, 2006

Isn't it amazing when you go back over your writing and you come across a particularly imaginative, magically written piece, and you think---man, did I write that?---and then you start thumbing through the book you're reading to make sure it didn't influence you too much...

Haruko_Ito · Mar 22, 2006

banjo said:
I look through my various works and pick out the exceptional passages and I'm very proud. Some of it I believe is so good, it's as if someone else wrote it and I'm admiring their talent.

I've gone back and looked at some older stuff that I started writing but haven't got back to complete, and sometimes I find a part that is pure poetry, and I wonder what inspired me to write that so well. And I think, if only all of it flowed like that.

It's the satisfaction that I get from reading some of my writings and the feelings that it is really good, along with the need I have to say my piece that drives me to write. Doesn't everybody feel that way?

You took the words right out of my mouth. Of what small, insignificant, and incomplete stories I have written thus far, some of them contain pure genious within that even my present self cannot beat it. I am proud of my works, but as I learn more, I realize just how many errors I've typed in the past.

LightShadow · Mar 22, 2006

We grow as we proceed.

PastMidnight · Mar 23, 2006

I'm often proud of my writing. If I didn't think it was any good, I wouldn't be doing it!

Pencilone · Mar 23, 2006

I haven't been proud of my writing yet. Maybe it will come to me when/if I'll be published.

glutton · Mar 23, 2006

Well... I think I'm pretty good with dialogue, inner thoughts, and combat scenes, which are my favorite things to write, but I'm not so good with narrating non-combat sequences, which is why I keep the narration to a minimum...

But I just really, really love my characters, especially my MCs! (That's why they're MCs) So actually, I'm always proud when I write, though mainly because I'm to write anything about them.

How often are you proud of your writing?

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