sometimes I s*ck & sometimes I do ok?

[haunted]

Why is it that somedays--like today--I read what I've written and know for sure it s*cks. Then other days, I get so excited, thinking it's pretty good. I've had otherstell me they do the same thing.....I'm still new at this, so would love to hear your thoughts! Seriously though, makes me wonder if this is why all those famous writers killed themselves!

[kaitiepaige17]

You do this. I do this. We all do this.

I find that personally this happens when I've been working on something for a really long time and begin getting bored with it. When that happens I usually start on something else. Hence my millions of WIPs. Keep writing, it's completely normal!

[haunted]

Good to hear that! I guess being in doubt makes me keep trying to improve at least!

Originally Posted by kaitiepaige17

You do this. I do this. We all do this.

I find that personally this happens when I've been working on something for a really long time and begin getting bored with it. When that happens I usually start on something else. Hence my millions of WIPs. Keep writing, it's completely normal!

[Maryn]

You're in good company. Every writer I know here and elsewhere has days or weeks or more during which they're sure they suck, big-time. That the well-received first book was a fluke and they can't do it again. That it was a big mistake and the fraud that is their talent will be revealed.

All you can do is make it as good as you can before any eyes but yours see it, and listen when others tell you what they think is still wrong with it.

Maryn, who'll buy the first round

[haunted]

Great! At least I don't feel alone with it! You totally described it by the way... wish there was a "like" button onthese boards...

[blacbird]

Originally Posted by Maryn

You're in good company. Every writer I know here and elsewhere has days or weeks or more years or decades or millennia during which they're sure they suck, big-time.

Originally Posted by Maryn

That the well-received first book was a fluke and they can't do it again.

What "well-received first book"?

caw

[MsJudy]

It's an important part of the process. If you always think your writing is beautiful, you're never going to get any better. There have to be those moments constantly pushing us to work harder, learn more, improve our skills.

My favorite example of this is a quote from a picture book author/illustrator in his 70s who had just won a major award. The journalist asked what he was working, and he said he hadn't started a new project yet. In the meantime, he was practicing his drawing, because, you know, you can never draw well enough.

That drive to constantly improve is key to good art, IMHO.

The hard part, I think, is learning to separate the two kinds of "this sucks" feelings. Sometimes, it's just insecurity. You think everything you've ever done sucks. The inner critic becomes a monster. You have to learn your own strategy for getting past those moments. Like James Ritchie says, the best thing to do with those feelings is just ignore them and keep writing.

But sometimes, it's your good taste telling you that what you've done isn't as good as you want it to be. I think it's very important to learn to listen to that voice, and keep polishing your skills. Don't be satisfied with mediocre if you're capable of excellence.

[kaitiepaige17]

Originally Posted by Jamesaritchie

So don't read what you've written. I learned a long, long time ago that what I think of my own writing doesn't matter. I sell writing I think sucks dead bunnies, and I get nothing but rejections for writing I think is the very best I've ever done.

I just don't worry about it. I write it the best way I can, but I don't even try to judge it. As one famous SF editor said, The writer's job is to write it, and the editor's job is to judge it, so do your job and let the editor do his.

So would you rather base your writing on what others think about it? I'm having the same dilemma. I wrote a rough draft several years ago that many people read and LOVED but I never got any offers from agents. There's a fine line between writing for yourself and writing to sell the book.

[blacbird]

Originally Posted by kaitiepaige17

I wrote a rough draft several years ago that many people read and LOVED but I never got any offers from agents.

If you were sending a rough draft to agents, that might explain why it produced no offers.

caw

[Ken]

... usually for me if I suspect something I've written isn't okay, even if it's just for a moment, then it really isn't okay for some reason or other. The story may be okay overall but there's something that just isn't quite working. So having doubts, at least for me, is a red flag that something isn't quite right and in need of a fix. Or, at worst, that the entire project needs to be scrapped. It happens. That's just me though.

[kaitiepaige17]

Originally Posted by blacbird

If you were sending a rough draft to agents, that might explain why it produced no offers.

caw

I'm not very sure what constitutes a rough draft or a complete first draft. My first drafts are usually pretty complete and free of errors. I try to write as well as possible so I don't spend months on revisions.

[blacbird]

Originally Posted by kaitiepaige17

I'm not very sure what constitutes a rough draft or a complete first draft. My first drafts are usually pretty complete and free of errors. I try to write as well as possible so I don't spend months on revisions.

"Pretty complete and free of errors" does not necessarily equate to being at a publishable level. Not many writers hit homeruns with first drafts, no matter how free of technical errors they might be.

caw

[kaitiepaige17]

Well everyone has their own way of writing. I've only ever sent out one query letter for one daft and got a request for a full. That's when I was a senior in high school and very inexperienced. Hopefully my way of doing things has improved since then

[haunted]

Thanks for all the good advice. I also sold the first draft of my non-fiction. I just know how much I have yet to learn! Especially with fiction. I also edit, edit, edit as i go, tweaking and rewriting, so Katie, i understand where you're coming from on that end of things.

And yes, the inner critic is a monster and has been for many years...though it does tend to make me strive for perfection, it's also hard on me! Especially when tackling anything new--one always wants to be 'the best' at everything instantly, which is of course, impossible...

[Ken]

Originally Posted by Jamesaritchie

I think crapping anything, ever, is a serious mistake. Heinlein's Rules all the way.

But I'd be more likely to suspect something is seriously wrong if I thought everything was fine. I know I've never written a story that didn't have flaws. Even when I sell a story to a top magazine, I know it still has flaws, even if I can't see them.

And this much I know, if you abandon a project, or if you fail to submit it, you have no way of knowing how good or bad it really is, and no way of learning from the mistake.

... you're on a different level then me with writing. Better, in short. So for you that probably works fine and if I ever get there myself it may too. Am making progress and am not after perfection. A story just has to do what it needs to do. I'm not quite there yet with that. When I am, your approach will probably work fine and I won't bother about flaws at that point as they won't be critical or anything. Hope that makes some sense.

[buzhidao]

Originally Posted by Jamesaritchie

I think crapping anything, ever, is a serious mistake.

Crapping is absolutely necessary.

But yes. Perception's a bitch and wobbles often.

[madrynea]

I'm glad I'm not alone with this feeling. And I agree there is a difference between the voice that tells you something is seriously wrong and continues to do so until you fix it, and then the voice that will occasionally tell you everything you have ever written sucks and you won't amount to anything. The former is usually right, for me. The latter peeps up when I've had too little sleep or food or there are other things on my mind. Or generally in the beginning of a new project. It's really hard to know in a given situation which of the two is speaking, though.

(Aren't you glad we writers can talk about voices speaking to us without being locked up?)

[Ken]

... thanks James. Read the rules. Number 3 is particularly applicable. "Tinkering endlessly." And maybe that in turn is due to Number 4: "fear of submission."

[haunted]

Thanks James! The rules are great. I personally have followed them all, with some modest success, so maybe that's why. I think I'd add a 7th--if you're waiting on others to help fulfill your dream and it isn't working, just do it yourself. Don't let anything stop you from doing what you really want to do.Life is too short...

[haunted]

Yes you're probably right...though I was ready to self-pub right before mine was sold. I'd say for those who want a product to sell (as I did) and simply don't want to wait, it can still be a good thing.

[RevanWright]

It's normal. Sometimes you get too wrapped up in what you're writing, and you can only see it from one angle. Sometimes you'll get on a writer's high, thinking you've just written a great chapter, and the next day you'll reread it and think it's garbage.
The worst times are the ones where you completely lose faith in your story for no apparent reason. On days like that, I just don't write.

There's a mantra that I've developed to help in this stage of the game, where I'm prepping queries and freaking out that what I've written isn't good enough and won't sell like hotcakes:
I write fantasy, and that's okay.
Sometimes it devolves into 'I write stupid YA portal high fantasy that probably won't sell because it's not paranormal urban romance fantasy in 1PPT..........but that's okay.' But that doesn't really help my state of mind.

Best advice is to keep honing your talent. Learn your craft, and write what you love. Everyone's got a good story to tell, and even if you think you're not good enough sometimes, work hard and you will be.


EDIT: Sorry for reviving this thread, didn't check the last post date.
EDIT EDIT: I guess it doesn't matter, since it was still on the front page. R&D not moving through threads quickly is a good thing, though.