Being intimidated by other novelists...

goatpiper · Sep 22, 2005

This is just a bit of whining from a young and very unseasoned writer, but humor me...
It's so strange that I become both motivated and intimidated by great writing - I feel I could never write nearly as well as some of my favorites, but am motivated to strive for that level regardless of my feelings of inadequecy.
How many of you out there have seen a profound development in the quality of your writing after doing it for a long time? What helps you through those times when you think 'I'll never be that good'?
Like I said - it's whining, and self-pitying, but it's real, and it is very frustrating.
Thoughts?

AW

Julie Worth · Sep 22, 2005

The more you write, the more you will realize that other writers are writing crap. And you will come to believe that you are not only a wonderful writer, but perhaps the best unpublished writer in the world, nay, the best writer, published or unpublished! The madness will take hold from there, and it won’t end until you’re cornered on top of a tall building, wearing only a cape.

DeniseK · Sep 22, 2005

I'm not intimidated. I'm jealous.

pconsidine · Sep 22, 2005

It doesn't tend to influence me one way or the other. I can't think of any author I want to write like, though I can think of many whose careers I'd like to have.

It definitely helps when I realize that for every book I love, there are almost certainly two by the same author that I hate. Everyone has their moments of genius. I will have mine and so will you.

Nateskate · Sep 22, 2005

Julie Worth said:
The more you write, the more you will realize that other writers are writing crap. And you will come to believe that you are not only a wonderful writer, but perhaps the best unpublished writer in the world, nay, the best writer, published or unpublished! The madness will take hold from there, and it won’t end until you’re cornered on top of a tall building, wearing only a cape.

How can you doubt your writing? This is great! LOL

CaitlinK18 · Sep 22, 2005

I look at the problem this way (because I used to get very intimidated by writing I thought was good): Great writers are there to teach you their tricks. They can entertain you and tell a wonderful story, but if you are also a writer then you can read their books to pick up technique for your own.

For example: I love Neil Gaiman's work, but I could never and WOULD never write like him. First of all, it would be derivative and I'd probably never get published because an agent would pick up my MS and go, "Hmm, another disgruntled Goth living in their basement and trying to write the next 'Sandman'. Pass!" Second of all, Neil Gaiman uses a rambling, expositional style and very Shakespearean langauge in all of his novels and I can't write that way. It sounds silly when I try. What I CAN do is learn from his good points--he has a wonderful command of language and uses unusual words and phrases in his descriptions. Because I have read his novels, I don't automatically reach for the most obvious word to describe a place, thing or character in my own writing any longer.

What I'm trying to say is, learn what you can from the greats and your favorites, and don't feel intimidated. Once, they were just like you and didn't have the first clue if their writing was any good. But they learned and stuck around until a publisher finally looked at their work, and you can too!

henriette · Sep 22, 2005

i try to turn my intimidation into inspiration. for example, i recently read a biography about the 19th century french writer george sand, who wrote over 60 novels, translated shakespeare, wrote at least 40,000 letters and lived an incredibly varied and exciting life. her story read like a juicy novel, and i was fascinated. her books are even better than i expected- every time i pick one up and lose myself in it, (they are hard to find, which makes the treasure even more precious) i feel i am a gnat compared to the giant of her genius.

however, once i get over my "poor me i suck and i could never write like that" attitude, i realize how much she has inspired me and how reading her works has made my own writing better. plus, her lifestory is so inspiring- in a time when women had very little freedom or rights, she left her husband, moved to paris to write and became one of france's most prolific and well-respected writers. her story taught me that it is never to late to pursue writing that novel or to do something extraordinary.

i am indebted to madame sand for giving me that push to go ahead and just giver.

blargh · Sep 22, 2005

I get intimidated by writers all the time. I was recently reading a short story by Dorothy Parker and I suddenly sat the book down and thought "there is no way in hell I will ever be this good." I didn't write at all that day. Next evening I was back at it, chugging away. *shrug* I'll write the best I can, work at improving, and hope that it's good enough.

NeuroFizz · Sep 22, 2005

There will always be someone in the weightroom who is bigger and stronger. It's counterproductive to agonize about it. If you keep striving for personal growth and improvement, watch others and see how they do it, and above all work hard at it, you just may find someone checking you out in the mirrors.

Jamesaritchie · Sep 22, 2005

Other writers

goatpiper said:
This is just a bit of whining from a young and very unseasoned writer, but humor me...
It's so strange that I become both motivated and intimidated by great writing - I feel I could never write nearly as well as some of my favorites, but am motivated to strive for that level regardless of my feelings of inadequecy.
How many of you out there have seen a profound development in the quality of your writing after doing it for a long time? What helps you through those times when you think 'I'll never be that good'?
Like I said - it's whining, and self-pitying, but it's real, and it is very frustrating.
Thoughts?

AW

I can't say I've ever been intimidated by anyone's writing, but there are a couple of writers I know are better than I'll ever be. The main one is Ray Bradbury. At his best, I think he's untouchable.

I have been motivated by the writing of others. My usual thought when I read a great writer is, "Oh, so that's how you do it!"

Now, I also think imitation is a very good thing to do. It's how we all learn the fastest. Not every writer has a style that's unique enough to imitate, but when you find a writer with a style you love, and can imitate, then doing so is a Good Thing.

Imitating doesn't mean copying, but even copying style can teach one how to write well. Imitating the masters is how you learn to paint, and imitating writers is a great way to learn how to write. Want to or not, you'll add your own style, your own ideas, your own worlds and characters, and bits and pieces from other writers you like. This make syour own style.

But, anyway, no, I've never been intimidated by other writers. Inspired, yes, intimidated, no. I've always believed that if someone else could do something, it has to be proven that I can't do it, too. In other words, I fully believe I can write as well as nearly anyone, Ray Bradbury and Shakespeare excluded, and I'll keep believing this until I'm proven wrong.

KTC · Sep 22, 2005

Just write. You will continually improve and you will find your own voice. Enjoy seeing the beauty in the writing of others. I get such a thrill when I pick up a novel and fall head over heels in love with it. Being a good reader is a blessing.

Your thoughts are the same as those of most developing writers. I read a Michael Chabon and I want to be a better writer so bad I can hardly concentrate on the words I'm reading. I feel jealousy, I feel intimidated, I feel envious, I feel self pity...but I also feel lucky. If you can appreciate good writing you can aspire to it. Keep writing.

Vomaxx · Sep 22, 2005

goatpiper said:
a young and very unseasoned writer,

It's so strange that I become both motivated and intimidated by great writing - I feel I could never write nearly as well as some of my favorites,

Perhaps you should keep in mind that every great writer was at one time also a young and very unseasoned one.

Brahms did not dare write a symphony before he was forty, because he was so intimidated by Beethoven, but Brahms's music is considered pretty good after all...

trebuchet · Sep 22, 2005

Goatpiper -
It is a comfort to know that I am not the only one who gets intimidated.

Thanks to everyone who has posted in this helpful thread for the encouraging words.
-treb

Jamesaritchie · Sep 22, 2005

saying

goatpiper said:
I feel I could never write nearly as well as some of my favorites,
AW

What's the old saying? "The man who believes he can and the man who believe he can't are both right."

Believe in yourself. It makes putting in the long hours, often teh long years, a heck of a lot easier.

reni · Sep 22, 2005

goatpiper said:
How many of you out there have seen a profound development in the quality of your writing after doing it for a long time?

The longer I write, the more I recognize what I wrote long ago is crap.

Does that count?

AdamH · Sep 22, 2005

goatpiper said:
How many of you out there have seen a profound development in the quality of your writing after doing it for a long time? What helps you through those times when you think 'I'll never be that good'?

My first short story I wrote that I had the courage to send to a magazine was bland, had the build of a mole hill, the characters were flatter than papyrus, had no true ending, no real beginning, and took place entirely in an elevator with two people talking to each other. I was proud of that first story. But at the same time I knew it probably wasn't perfect, it's just that starting out I didn't know any better. So I sent the thing to the editor and asked in my query letter if it gets rejected could he provide me some suggestions on how to improve it. Needless to say, I didn't hear back at all. Sort of thankful upon looking back, I secretly hoped that it got lost in the mail because it was HORRIBLE compared to my newer stories.
But I learned from my (countless) mistakes from that first time and realized from that point on I could only go up.
I don't think I'll ever be as good as the greats out there...but I sure as heck am going to try!
Nothing is more humbling and more inspiring than a writer that's a step above you that you can learn from.

Sledge · Sep 22, 2005

goatpiper said:
- I feel I could never write nearly as well as some of my favorites, but am motivated to strive for that level regardless of my feelings of inadequecy.

It's the same with every skill. I play guitar for example and when I hear Jimmy Page I want to rock out, even though I'll never be able to bust out the solo from Whole Lotta Love.

---
Sledge

MarkPettus · Sep 22, 2005

I'm going to steal my reply from another thread from a couple of months ago -- who inspires you? -- I'm way too arrogant to get intimidated, but there are things I aspire to...

MarkPettus said:
I think that John Irving's Cider House Rules is a phenomenal novel, Dickensian in scale, one I wish I could emulate. John Updike has a gift for language that makes me feel like Salieri to his Mozart...

"...a mailbox stands leaning in twilight on its concrete post. Tall two-petaled street sign, the cleat-gouged trunk of the telephone pole holding its insulators against the sky, fire hydrant like a golden bush: a grove."

"Little plump women, toy dogs in the street, candy houses in lemon sunshine."
from Rabbit Run

I hate horror stories, but Stephen King makes me care about the people. The horrors they face must be real, because they are happening to real people. I fear for them.

My aspiration is to tell a a story that traverses time and distance, about characters that are real enough for you to love... and hate, using language that can make you cry... and laugh... and leave you with a sense of loss and longing that will cause you to reopen the book every few years and read again...

Am I aiming too high?

Vanessa · Sep 22, 2005

I think you should concentrate more on creating your craft. Creating what is you. Of course you should read other's work, and take something from it, if you want, but more importantly, put all your energy into your identity. In other words, don't focus on being like anyone. Be you!

Intimidation is fair game, but it can also rip you apart. Back in my high school/college days, I was a track star, and I clearly remembered how in one meet, I let intimidation cause me my worst performance. I remember my coach telling me that she was very aware of my abilities and because someone is bigger and seem badder or even faster than you, you still have the talent to beat them and the stats to prove it. I did lose that day, falling well below my stats. But I met up with those same folks in a later meet that same year and whipped the socks off of them and broke meet records as well.

And honestly after that, intimidation has and will always challenge me, but never will it beat me again.

PattiTheWicked · Sep 23, 2005

There's a difference, I think, between intimidation and admiration. It's a fine line, but once you develop a bit more confidence in yourself and your work, it's not hard to distinguish between the two. There are many writers I admire, but few I am intimidated by -- and most of those are dead anyway.

The bottom line is, while writing is a competitive sport, you don't have to compare to other people. You just have to tell a good story in a way that keeps readers turning the pages. I know I'll probably never have the phenomenal success of JK Rowling, or the fan base of Nora Roberts, or the movie tie-ins of Stephen King, but I'm cool with that. Because I'm damn good at what I do. That's not to say I can't get better -- everyone can, and anyone who says they can't is a liar -- but for now, I'm the best I've ever been. And it's finally beginning to pay off.

And look at it from a business perspective. If you think you suck, then why should agents, editors or publishers beleive any different?

aruna · Sep 23, 2005

I see it from two perspectives.
There are many, many writers who can write better than myself, and when I read them I feel al onging to be able to express myself that well. They are my inspiration and my motivation - yes, it can be done.

At the same time I know that I am the only one in the world who can write my stories. No-one else can. Not even Shakespeare. And it's up to me to get them out there, in the best way I can. So though I feel the utmost confidence in the actual stories I have to tell, and the characters in them, I know that the actual execution of those stories - finding the right words - still needs growth. I can grow best by reading writers better than myself.

PattiTheWicked · Sep 23, 2005

aruna said:
At the same time I know that I am the only one in the world who can write my stories. No-one else can. Not even Shakespeare. And it's up to me to get them out there, in the best way I can. So though I feel the utmost confidence in the actual stories I have to tell, and the characters in them, I know that the actual execution of those stories - finding the right words - stil needs growth. I can grow best by reading writers better than myself.

Well said, indeed.

Nateskate · Sep 23, 2005

I just read the Prince and the Pauper. Twain is such a great writer. Now I'm reading Gulliver's Travels. Whenever I read a great book I am humbled by both prose and creativity.

Then I have to go to Barnes and Nobles and pick up some stuff off the rack so that I can flip through some of the bad writings to tell myself "You are at least good enough to be with the worst writers!"

Sassenach · Sep 23, 2005

goatpiper said:
This is just a bit of whining from a young and very unseasoned writer, but humor me...
It's so strange that I become both motivated and intimidated by great writing - I feel I could never write nearly as well as some of my favorites, but am motivated to strive for that level regardless of my feelings of inadequecy.
How many of you out there have seen a profound development in the quality of your writing after doing it for a long time? What helps you through those times when you think 'I'll never be that good'?
Like I said - it's whining, and self-pitying, but it's real, and it is very frustrating.
Thoughts?

AW

Shut up and write.

Yes, of course you'll improve with age and practice.

As Buddha said, 'comparison is a pitfall.'

trebuchet · Sep 23, 2005

Nateskate said:
Whenever I read a great book I am humbled by both prose and creativity.

So true. I feel the same about Orson Scott Card. And I feel not only intimidation, admiration or inspiration from reading the work of great authors, but also the opportunity to learn from them. Their work, their genius is there for us forever. They are our mentors.

Being intimidated by other novelists...

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