Low Confidence is the Devil
Hello, and greetings to all members of The Tribe.
I hope all of you wonderful creative folks know that I did NOT forget you this past week. I'm a few days late on writing a new blog post because I have been down, man ... really down.
Why? Well, thanks for asking. I will tell you. It's embarrassing and immature, but it's the truth and if I am ever to relate to any of you ... I have to tell the truth.
I allowed an editor to critique my work. There. I said it. Oh, the horror!!!
Here's the deal with critiques ... as writers, we all need them. If you are going to be a writer, you MUST get feedback from someone - preferably a copy editor and/or another experienced writer -- to help catch typos and grammar errors, locate possible plot issues, etc.
The problem with most of us is that we're so excited to have completed something that we just want to get it "out there" where we can share it. However, most first drafts are complete crap! Actually, second drafts are usually not all that great, either.
A good friend of mine -- she writes in the romance genre -- has successfully written work that has gotten rave reviews. So, I trust her opinion. She once told me that you should never send your work to a copy editor before you have gone over it and over it again until you feel the plot and other possible errors are worked out. Then, you can send it to the copy editor to catch all the stuff you STILL didn't see and fix that, too. It will only be then that you are ready to publish.
I realize I am telling you what you don't want to hear. How do I know that? Because I don't want to hear it, either! But, it's the truth. I owe you all and myself that, too.
Recently, I finished a piece (or thought I had) and sent it to a copy editor for a final look. I was devastated when I got it back. It got me down for about four days. I was ready to just say, forget it. I suck. I don't need to be a writer.
Today, I'm taking a look at what the editor said -- and I am taking a more critical look at what revisions to make and which changes to ignore. The editor actually had some really helpful and enlightening things to say, but there were other things I disagreed with and didn't want to change. I worried that if I didn't change them, then I might make my manuscript fall short of what it is supposed to become.
My sister, and fellow writer, BJ Hyman, recently said to me, "Lee Ann, you have to know what to keep in order to please the reader and make the story polished and professional, but you also have to know what suggestions to ignore so that you can keep the parts of the work that are just distinctive of your personality and the way you see things. That's what makes it sparkle."
I just love my sister. She has a way of putting things into perspective.
The reason most of us have such trouble with anyone editing or critiquing our work is that when we create something -- and it's such an intimate, personal process -- we are putting a piece of ourselves out there. We're not merely holding up something we present to the world everyday. This comes from deep inside. This is an act of creation from where we really live. It's what is going on in our heads. So, it is natural that it will hurt like crazy when someone tears it apart.
That person is doing what we cannot because we're too close to it. Some people have no trouble having their work critiqued. I don't understand those people. I don't pretend to understand them. They are far more mature than I. In all honesty I think it's a matter of perspective. If I already only consider my work as something malleable to be perfected, then I won't mind having help with it. However, if I see my work as if it were one of my children -- and that is almost how I see my work -- then, I will take it personally when someone is harsh with it.
I makes jokes about not understanding people who don't take criticism personally, but I actually understand more than I pretend. As a writer, I have lived two lives. One as a reporter and one as a fiction writer.
As a reporter, I had an editor who criticized every piece I did. That was his job. I loved being a reporter, but it was not the same as when I write poetry and fiction. As a reporter, I handled editing quite differently. I always used the critique as a means to learn how to polish my work.
However, my poetry and fiction ... well, I put far more of myself into that work. I created that crap from my heart and mind. Thus, critiques of that work have the potential to break my heart.
I am now learning to develop a perspective that will help me deal with the post-critique blues. I know that in the past I have had to make difficult decisions for the sake of my children. I had to do things like discipline them, take them for immunizations, etc. These were things that were for their own good. It would make them better in the long run, even though it wasn't pleasant.
I must see my stories the same way. In the long run, a critique will make that story better and stronger. It's hard, but it's for the best.
As artists of one sort or another, I have noticed that so many of us -- even some of the most successful people I know -- still have low confidence when it comes to their newest work.
Low confidence is the devil.
Believe in yourself. Know that critiques from people you trust will only help you. Have the confidence to trust your instincts and know what to keep and what to change. In the end. your work will be better for it.
I shall put away my soapbox for today. End of sermon.
Can I get a witness? Can I get an AMEN?
Hugs to the Tribe!
Until next time,
LA
I hope all of you wonderful creative folks know that I did NOT forget you this past week. I'm a few days late on writing a new blog post because I have been down, man ... really down.
Why? Well, thanks for asking. I will tell you. It's embarrassing and immature, but it's the truth and if I am ever to relate to any of you ... I have to tell the truth.
I allowed an editor to critique my work. There. I said it. Oh, the horror!!!
Here's the deal with critiques ... as writers, we all need them. If you are going to be a writer, you MUST get feedback from someone - preferably a copy editor and/or another experienced writer -- to help catch typos and grammar errors, locate possible plot issues, etc.
The problem with most of us is that we're so excited to have completed something that we just want to get it "out there" where we can share it. However, most first drafts are complete crap! Actually, second drafts are usually not all that great, either.
A good friend of mine -- she writes in the romance genre -- has successfully written work that has gotten rave reviews. So, I trust her opinion. She once told me that you should never send your work to a copy editor before you have gone over it and over it again until you feel the plot and other possible errors are worked out. Then, you can send it to the copy editor to catch all the stuff you STILL didn't see and fix that, too. It will only be then that you are ready to publish.
I realize I am telling you what you don't want to hear. How do I know that? Because I don't want to hear it, either! But, it's the truth. I owe you all and myself that, too.
Recently, I finished a piece (or thought I had) and sent it to a copy editor for a final look. I was devastated when I got it back. It got me down for about four days. I was ready to just say, forget it. I suck. I don't need to be a writer.
Today, I'm taking a look at what the editor said -- and I am taking a more critical look at what revisions to make and which changes to ignore. The editor actually had some really helpful and enlightening things to say, but there were other things I disagreed with and didn't want to change. I worried that if I didn't change them, then I might make my manuscript fall short of what it is supposed to become.
My sister, and fellow writer, BJ Hyman, recently said to me, "Lee Ann, you have to know what to keep in order to please the reader and make the story polished and professional, but you also have to know what suggestions to ignore so that you can keep the parts of the work that are just distinctive of your personality and the way you see things. That's what makes it sparkle."
I just love my sister. She has a way of putting things into perspective.
The reason most of us have such trouble with anyone editing or critiquing our work is that when we create something -- and it's such an intimate, personal process -- we are putting a piece of ourselves out there. We're not merely holding up something we present to the world everyday. This comes from deep inside. This is an act of creation from where we really live. It's what is going on in our heads. So, it is natural that it will hurt like crazy when someone tears it apart.
That person is doing what we cannot because we're too close to it. Some people have no trouble having their work critiqued. I don't understand those people. I don't pretend to understand them. They are far more mature than I. In all honesty I think it's a matter of perspective. If I already only consider my work as something malleable to be perfected, then I won't mind having help with it. However, if I see my work as if it were one of my children -- and that is almost how I see my work -- then, I will take it personally when someone is harsh with it.
I makes jokes about not understanding people who don't take criticism personally, but I actually understand more than I pretend. As a writer, I have lived two lives. One as a reporter and one as a fiction writer.
As a reporter, I had an editor who criticized every piece I did. That was his job. I loved being a reporter, but it was not the same as when I write poetry and fiction. As a reporter, I handled editing quite differently. I always used the critique as a means to learn how to polish my work.
However, my poetry and fiction ... well, I put far more of myself into that work. I created that crap from my heart and mind. Thus, critiques of that work have the potential to break my heart.
I am now learning to develop a perspective that will help me deal with the post-critique blues. I know that in the past I have had to make difficult decisions for the sake of my children. I had to do things like discipline them, take them for immunizations, etc. These were things that were for their own good. It would make them better in the long run, even though it wasn't pleasant.
I must see my stories the same way. In the long run, a critique will make that story better and stronger. It's hard, but it's for the best.
As artists of one sort or another, I have noticed that so many of us -- even some of the most successful people I know -- still have low confidence when it comes to their newest work.
Low confidence is the devil.
Believe in yourself. Know that critiques from people you trust will only help you. Have the confidence to trust your instincts and know what to keep and what to change. In the end. your work will be better for it.
I shall put away my soapbox for today. End of sermon.
Can I get a witness? Can I get an AMEN?
Hugs to the Tribe!
Until next time,
LA
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