I think my writing sucks.

JulianneQJohnson · Feb 3, 2013

jjdebenedictis said:
You're most likely to think your writing sucks right after you have a breakthrough that helps you understand your craft better.

In other words, that miserable "I suck" feeling is a sign of progress--it's the normal accompaniment to becoming a better writer than you ever have been.

While I'm sure that is the case in some instances, that doesn't really happen with me. Sure I look at early work and am grateful for how far I have come, but I don't think it sucks, I just think it lacks progress. I suppose my changes in style have come so gradually, that I don't have a lot of "a-ha!" moments. What I do have, is a 47 year old body that is going through menopause. I have days when everything seems to suck, and sometimes my writing takes the brunt of it. In my case, at least, it really seems more of a mood swing than something born of a learning experience.

Nekko · Feb 3, 2013

I'm going through a "my writing sucks" phase right now. I avoided looking at my WIP for two weeks and I'm finally ready to dive back in and take a fresh look at it.

I think sometimes you just need to take a break and recharge.

ucf612 · Feb 3, 2013

My writing definitely sucks, but I know I'm still so early on in my writing life that I can only get better. Right? Please tell me I'm right! I suffer from an "everything I do sucks" mentality. I love photography but think I suck because I'm not as good as people I admire, but I just had someone beg me to shoot their wedding.

TMCan · Feb 3, 2013

My life is a "My Writing Sucks" phase. But at least I think there are some who suck more than me lol

Johncs · Feb 3, 2013

Hi, my name's John and I think my writing sucks.

Wait, wrong group...

Whenever I get convinced my current WIP is a waste of time and I'm a total hack, I reach into the truck and pull out the first draft of my first novel. A quick scan (who would read this drek, much less write it?) confirms that my writing has improved from "kill it with fire" to "not a war crime".

You've got to take the small wins wherever you can.

katci13 · Feb 3, 2013

I don't ever think I suck anymore...but I do go through periods of thinking my work as a whole isn't good enough, if that makes sense. I know I'm a good writer, but that doesn't mean people will actually go out and buy my stuff.

When I'm feeling down, I bug everyone I know, say I want to quit, consider quitting, and then go write to make myself feel better.

rwm4768 · Feb 3, 2013

When I think my writing sucks, I try to change my attitude and find the good points in my writing. Or I think of some of the badly written books I've read and think, Hey, if they got published, so can I.

Sometimes, it might be best if you take a break for a while. Do some reading. Catch up on all those aspects of life you neglect, like chores, and eating, and showering.

Most of all, don't worry about it. In some ways, it's better if you think your writing sucks. That way, you know you still have room to grow. That's much better than the terrible writer who thinks they're great and stops improving.

April Days · Feb 4, 2013

Sometimes I know my writing sucks, and sometimes I just wonder if it does. If I know it does, I edit. I've written some of my better stuff by rewriting. The "wondering" part is impossible for me to solve...

kkbe · Feb 4, 2013

blacbird said:
Self-loathing.

caw

That's funny, blacbird. I'm laughing.

Now I'm chastising myself for laughing: Why are you laughing, you stoopid jerkface? I hate you.

I mean me, jerkface--I mean, blacbird. God, I'm so stoopid.

srgalactica · Feb 4, 2013

I'm in the middle of a 'my writing sucks' period. What I'm trying to do if force myself to write, and not be afraid to let myself write crap.

The fact is, most of the good writing comes from the edits for me. My first drafts are sparse things, lacking details and senses. They're little more than very detailed outlines. My second drafts are for filling out the sparseness. It's the drafts after that where the writing starts to look better.

I just have to keep telling myself that nothing is written in stone.

Yesterday I wrote about 400 words of a revision for my first scene to put up on SYW and it sucked and I got really bummed about this. This morning, I'm telling myself that even though it's a revision, it's also technically new material since I'm scrapping a lot of the original scene. Which means it's ok if it's crap right now.

celticroots · Feb 4, 2013

Thank for the responses everyone.

Reading them has helped give me some perspective.

Myrealana · Feb 4, 2013

I don't know. But if you figure it out, let me know.

I actually think my writing is pretty good. The words that go onto the page are articulate and flow. I do that part well.

I think my imagination sucks. Every character, plot and setting feels unoriginal. I keep writing, hoping that golden idea will happen, but so far, I'm just doing it for my own amusement.

*sigh*

bearilou · Feb 4, 2013

celticroots said:
How do you guys deal with periods where you think your writing sucks?

Pretty much the same way you do.

Also, I do like to daydream about seeing my book on the Barnes and Noble bookshelves to remind me that someone out there may not think it sucks as much as I do. At least, one day they won't!

quickWit · Feb 4, 2013

I write, like, a bazillion times better than I play basketball. So, I've got that going for me.

*takes it strong to the hoop
*throws ball over backboard

Let it rain!

It's aaaall in your perspective.

Myrealana · Feb 4, 2013

quickWit said:
I write, like, a bazillion times better than I play basketball. So, I've got that going for me.

*takes it strong to the hoop
*throws ball over backboard

Let it rain!

It's aaaall in your perspective.

There is that.

SteveW · Feb 4, 2013

I am experiencing this phenomenon right now.

I just went back over my WIP and a short story I wrote this weekend and it is all crap.

I literally have a knot in my stomach. Part of me wants to hurl my coffee cup through my office window, and the other part wants to go take a nap and forget this all ever happened.

So much for my word count goal this month. I don't think I can write another drop until I do some serious editing and see if I can get myself to a place where I don't want to just flat out quit. I need to know if I am capable of writing even a single short story at a professional level.

Dammit.

quickWit · Feb 4, 2013

Go out and shoot some hoops, Steve. You'll feel much better.

*fires from downtown
*chases ball as it rolls down block

It's good cardio, too!

Geoff Mehl · Feb 4, 2013

There are days when the words come easily and days when it's a struggle. It's very easy to fall into despair when plot problems arise, characters don't work as smoothly as we'd like, rhythm is off or concentration flutters. Self pity seems to be a common adversary when working alone in the arts, always so eager to curl up in our mind and chew on our dreams.

The answer, when writing stuff that sucks, is to keep writing it, at least for me. My drafts are often littered with little bold face asides in parentheses reminding me to come back to this to smooth out the language, find a better phrase, check a fact, make something work better. Yep, those were the tough days, when all I could accomplish is progress.

So in the end, it never really sucks (in the context of that dismissive condemnation that suggests it would have been a better day to clean the refrigerator). It's just a paragraph that needs tuning, a character that needs a little more color, a plot point that needs to be resolved. It's just editing. No big deal. And always a better alternative than cleaning the fridge.

ucf612 · Feb 4, 2013

Geoff Mehl said:
There are days when the words come easily and days when it's a struggle. It's very easy to fall into despair when plot problems arise, characters don't work as smoothly as we'd like, rhythm is off or concentration flutters. Self pity seems to be a common adversary when working alone in the arts, always so eager to curl up in our mind and chew on our dreams.

The answer, when writing stuff that sucks, is to keep writing it, at least for me. My drafts are often littered with little bold face asides in parentheses reminding me to come back to this to smooth out the language, find a better phrase, check a fact, make something work better. Yep, those were the tough days, when all I could accomplish is progress.

So in the end, it never really sucks (in the context of that dismissive condemnation that suggests it would have been a better day to clean the refrigerator). It's just a paragraph that needs tuning, a character that needs a little more color, a plot point that needs to be resolved. It's just editing. No big deal. And always a better alternative than cleaning the fridge.

I like this thinking.

P-Jay · Feb 4, 2013

Pull through!

My trick to get over these days?
Reading shitty books. Watching/reading interviews of famous writers who are subpar at best.

It's cynical, I know. But it lights a fire in me that keeps me going. :snoopy:

guttersquid · Feb 4, 2013

At those times I find myself questioning the quality of my writing, I pull out something I wrote that I haven't looked at in a long time, usually a story I left unfinished. When I read what I wrote I am almost always amazed at how good I think it is. I find myself flying through the pages, wondering what's next, then being disappointed that it's incomplete and wondering why I abandoned it. So, no, I don't think my writing sucks. My real problem is a lack of discipline. I have to figure out a way to keep my butt in the chair and write. But I hear the TV in the other room. It's calling ...

TMCan · Feb 4, 2013

rwm4768 said:
When I think my writing sucks, I try to change my attitude and find the good points in my writing. Or I think of some of the badly written books I've read and think, Hey, if they got published, so can I.

I have to tell myself this often. It helps when I see what crap gets published in YA. If sparkly vampires can make some women millionaires, than my work should at least get me published.

celticroots · Feb 4, 2013

lol.

TMCan said:
I have to tell myself this often. It helps when I see what crap gets published in YA. If sparkly vampires can make some women millionaires, than my work should at least get me published.

Ellielle · Feb 4, 2013

I'm in a "my writing sucks" phase right now--had to take a break at the end of December because I was feeling so down about it. Right now, I'm doing some beta reads and finding that quite helpful. It's honing my critique skills, but more than that, it's helping to shift me away from the "this has some issues so therefore it sucks and can never be fixed" mentality that I was struggling with. I'd never approach a beta read with that reasoning, because it's cruel and unhelpful, so I shouldn't approach my writing like that either.

I also think my ideas suck, though, and I'm finding that a little harder to overcome. But I've at least gotten to the point where I can work on my writing again without being overwhelmed with hatred for it.

Finis · Feb 4, 2013

Actualy I tend to go through phases where I think my writing is better then it is.

When that happens I'll show my wife a new piece, all smiles and happy, my ego primed and ready to be stroked.

And then she'll say, "What the shit is this?"

Poof. Back to normal-sized ego.

I think my writing sucks.

Ferret Herder

Back to purring

This space for rent

creative genie

practical experience, FTW

New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin

Huh.

I aim to misbehave

DenturePunk writer

Totally Ninja!

I aim to misbehave

Totally Ninja!

My name is PJ.

I agree with Roxxsmom.

needs something clever to put here