Skip to main content

When Faced with a Superior Artist


Quote from the Dungeon:
     The Owd Un hastily started trying keys again.  “You’ve got to have a better plan than that, Jacob,” he growled.  “And you had best come up with it quickly!”
 
     I am sure that this is something that happens multiple times for writers.  You read something that someone else has written and are awed by the skill of the writer...and then you look over your own work and realize that you are not that good yet.  I have even heard writers that I admire sigh over the excellent wordcraft of another writer they esteem highly.
     The question is: what do you do about it?  When you feel that your own work does not measure up to another's, what should your reaction be?
     1. You could give up.  That is not typically the recommendation, of course.  But I presume that you could survey yourself, realize that this is not really what you want to do with your life, and pursue some other expression of excellence.
     2. You could push yourself to achieve the standards you see in others.  Depending on how you go about this, you could either succeed beyond your wildest dreams or you could end up being a frustrated, hopeless copycat.
     3. You could turn your back on the other writers.  Perhaps, although you admire their style, it is not your own.  You can simply say, "I love that, but I will never write like that.  I have to write my own way."
     4. You could simply give yourself some grace and keep working and striving for excellence.  You are still learning, and, like a baby learning to walk, your first steps don't have to be full of beauty and precision.  But you will learn.  Every day you will keep working - not crying over mistakes but finding and correcting them if you can, noticing what it is in other's writing that makes you like it, trying to apply newfound knowledge, and steadily working towards becoming the writer that you want to be.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

More Snippets from Snow White Rose Red

    One of the shadows moved.   “Were you just going to chuck it in there with no thought for the poor folks on the other side?”   Flip’s voice drawled out.   It was a deep voice and it made my heart skip a beat.      He moved away from the trees and came to stand in front of me.   “Some hard-working fellow is plowing his field and then – whop!   Out of nowhere, a poisoned apple flies out and hits him upside the head.”   He clucked his tongue reproachfully.

A Short Story Break

via Pinterest     It has been a while since I penned a short story.  Usually it takes something like a "short story contest" to inspire me.  But I have noticed my writing skills improve with each contest so there is something to be said for writing short stories.      I say all this to lead into the fact that I am going to try another short story.  There is no contest looming on the horizon, but it has been so long that I think I am due to write a short piece.  Life cannot be entirely devoted to novel-length plots...      I am rolling around different ideas in my head.  There is no one to give me the first three words or a picture to base my story on.  There are no restrictions, no props, and no judges.      Methinks I will try something that is both epic and ordinary...something I have seen before.  After all, personal experience, great things, and the expression of the ordinary are part of what makes a story. 

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?