Looking for Writing...Friend?

I want someone to tell me if I have potential, or if I am wasting life away in front of a computer screen. I could live with out ever being published. For me, it is all about style.

I'm interested, because I'm looking for the same kind of person. Sometimes it's quite hard when you are just working on your own and there's no other person there to help and when you ask close friends they are not interested or can't really help because they are not objective enough...

Garriga said:

I want someone to tell me if I have potential, or if I am wasting life away in front of a computer screen. I could live with out ever being published. For me, it is all about style.

Click to expand...

I don't believe you can look at anyone's writing and predict that author's future. I've now hit certain milestones that confirm my writing is at least going in the right direction, but I don't see how anyone could've looked into the abyss of my old stuff and said, "Yeah, this person totally has potential. I see many full manuscript requests in her future."

Neither do I believe that God put me on earth with a note that said, "Oh, and by the way, if you don't publish a novel, you wasted your life."

I think it's less about telling yourself your writing is good or even potentially good and more about telling yourself that you are a motivated, passionate, and hopelessly stubborn writer who's going to work at your craft until it is good, no matter what stage it's at now.

Best of luck to both of you. Oh, and here's a little article on author attitude that was a nice motivation for me:
http://hollylisle.com/how-to-tell-who-wont-make-it-in-writing-and-how-not-to-be-that-writer/

Katrina S. Forest said:

Oh, and here's a little article on author attitude that was a nice motivation for me:
http://hollylisle.com/how-to-tell-who-wont-make-it-in-writing-and-how-not-to-be-that-writer/

Click to expand...

Ahhh, where has that website been all my life?! Thanks for that

Btw I agree in that motivation and passion are key, irrespective of what anyone else says about your writing. And growing a thick skin is invaluable, because if you ask for honest appraisals then be prepared for someone to tell you that your writing sucks (or something akin to that).

I'm seeking the same thing, but not only is it damn hard to find (this isn't the first forum in which I've posted ads), it seems (from my experience at least) that many if not most people want a quid-pro-quo arrangement. If that's what you want to do then make a point of stating it. </br> I'm sure one of the reasons I've had so few takers is because I don't feel confident (yet) in reciprocating crits or even general feedback on the kind of scale that I would find acceptable. For example I would hope that someone could give me thorough feedback for each 2,5k piece I sent them (I don't know, say about 500+ words), but I doubt I could muster the same quality and quantity for their work. When I read people's work, I have no idea why but I can't actually think of what to say beyond liking it, disliking it, or being indifferent to it. Simply nothing springs to mind, and when it does it feels poorly constructed or unhelpful. It frustrates the hell out of me.</br> In a nutshell, only be prepared to recieve what you can give, and highlight this so that no potential writing buddy gets the wrong idea.