A positive spin.

[Hillsy]

Here's a quick musing that I hope will give some positive thoughts to people who look at their work and reaching for the cigarette lighter.

I was going back to type up an edit I did on a finished MS.....It's a beast, 287K in raw form, the edit will slice it too 195K I hope....any way, due to its size the editing took time - not to mention the year spent cooling off it in a drawer....so I ended up going back over the first few chapters to type up the edits.

Guess what? I got the 'Am I Crazies'. I was sorely disappointed with the prose, poor pacing, character development early on wasn't what I wanted. I'd edited it fine at the time to make it tighter, but I realised I didn't go far enough. OK, I'm much happier with the last 80%, but that's also the least important to begin with. But, yes, I questioned if I actually had any talent at all, was I just scrawling down words that had no worth, no merit, when these long hours could be spent cleaning the car, sleeping, or something else more productive.

BUT - In doing so I realised 2 things.

1. I can be critical of my own work.
Yes we can all have a bad day at the office, and we can splurge out some pap. But the fact of it is if you are critical, you know you can better. You have to diagnose a problem to cure it. I looked at my work, thought "It's massive rewrite - or bin." then remembered that at the time I thought it was fine. I'm getting better - and that makes you realise that you haven't arrived at crap-writing ville. It a process; this is just the start. I know its bad because I'm a much better writer now, and 'now' is more relevant than 'then'

2. I may not be confident of success, but I have 100% belief that I can try.
I was reading the comments to Nathan's post about the Kruger Dunning effect and I thought, "Yeah, the arrogant incompetent are a pain - but by Zeus so are the whiners." Someone said it's not lack of confidence, it's fear of failure: so what that you think you either a) suck or b) rule, that isn't the game. The game is 'TRYING'! Everyone, of any talent, can do that. The tortured, angst riddled artist is a cliche (medical conditions aside) used by people who haven't worked out yet that EVERYONE is 100% capable of trying.

If you keep trying, and keep improving, you eventually reach your destination. Nothing about writing better, or smarter; no qualitative measure on the 'art' as it were at all. For most of us that destination will be a room full of unpublished manuscripts. Some might be luckier. But you'll never know if you don't take the ride and everyone can buy a ticket!

[Mira]

"If you keep trying, and keep improving, you eventually reach your destination"

I like that Hillsy! And I agree. Keep on, keep on, keep on! :)

[JustineDell]

Someone said it's not lack of confidence, it's fear of failure

Hmph...it's both - for me anyways. But I try not be a whiner either. I'll get on the train anyways, hoping somewhere along the way somebody will buy my ticket. ;-)

~JD