How do you know your writing is good enough?

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MedleyMisty
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Re: How do you know your writing is good enough?

Post by MedleyMisty » January 7th, 2010, 8:26 pm

Vio wrote:The only writers who know for sure they're good enough are the published ones, the rest will never really know.
Isn't that sort of 20th century thinking? There's a lot of alternatives now and you don't have to go through corporate gatekeepers if you don't want. In my little internet subculture, quite a few people say they don't read paper books anymore and that they get their literature fix exclusively from Sims stories.

Personally, I know that my writing is good enough. Oh, not good enough for me - I'm always driving myself to do better. But I know it's good enough for other people. They've been telling me that it is for as long as I can remember and I see no reason to not believe them.

Vio
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Re: How do you know your writing is good enough?

Post by Vio » January 9th, 2010, 7:57 am

MedleyMisty wrote:Isn't that sort of 20th century thinking? There's a lot of alternatives now and you don't have to go through corporate gatekeepers if you don't want. In my little internet subculture, quite a few people say they don't read paper books anymore and that they get their literature fix exclusively from Sims stories.
As far as publication with a major publisher goes, I don't think the rules have changed that much in the 21st century - at least, not yet. Of course, given the new alternatives, namely self-publication with an e-publisher, the question of what "good enough" writing really means in the 21st century can be discussed seperately. But let's be frank for a second, most e-publishers I am aware of don't have any quality standards at all, so being "good enough" is not really an issue anymore for getting (sort of) published at all - but it is still what will determine your sales. You still need to be "good enough" to compete with traditionally published writing. Meaning you will need to meet the same quality standards as before to have any success as a writer, 21st century or not.

Of course if you aren't after publication at all, being "good enough" has a whole different meaning. It could mean that you're good enough if your friends/family like your writing. Or it could be good enough as soon as it's written down, since to you the journey of writing is what matters to you, not the tiny hope of seeing your work in print.

dolly_angel
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Re: How do you know your writing is good enough?

Post by dolly_angel » January 15th, 2010, 6:46 am

I think if you can bare to read it back yourself after spending all that time writing it, (and you know it backwards) then it is worth writing. If I wrote something and it bored even me on the re-reads then I would be slow to share it!

I reckon inside us all is a tiny voice and it will always tell us if something is not up to par, we just need to be still and listen.

What others think of our work is relevant only somewhat as I believe that what we think matters most. Obviously it helps if others love it too!!!

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