I find my writing to be very intimate; it's like taking a
private fantasy from your head quite violently and slamming it on paper. Every
little detail is a personal preference and every character has a degree of
ourselves within them. Our fears and beliefs seep into our work without us even
noticing.
This is why I find it very difficult to allow others to read
my manuscripts. I have to deeply trust someone to allow them to read the very
raw work, to see the silly grammatical mistakes I have programmed in my brain
and when I type one word when I mean another. The biggest fear, of course, is
criticism. Having someone tell you they don't like it, that it's boring, that
they thought it was laughable, made no sense and belongs in the bin.
Let them.
You cannot predict what others will think; denying them the
chance to slate it denies them the chance to praise it. Praise is useful, it
makes you feel great and motivates you to do more. I'm often surprised by what
people think but I always appreciate their honesty. No one has ever said to me
my writing is perfect and I know they'd be lying if they did but knowing they
like it even with flaws is encouraging. Listening to criticism has helped me
grow and improve my story telling skills.
“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils
the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy
state of things.”
― Winston Churchill
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| Or you could purposely write something of low quality, to meet the low expectations of others. |
