I've noticed this is a flourishing topic, and one that seems to afflict a lot of people, so I wanted to talk about it. You know me, ever the curious one.

"I hate my writing."
"I'm not as good as you."
"I wish I was better."
"I can't write that well."

Says who?

So many people have been talking about how they hate their own writing, or how they wish they were so much better. This is just one form of self-hate, and one that seems prevalent on this site, so it'll be the main focus of this thread. If it goes over well, I'll create a separate thread for other forms of self-hate.

I want everyone to sound off, do you dislike your writing skills/style? Wish you were better? Envious of others?

If so, why?

For those who are happy with how they write, how do you react when people say these things?


(WARNING!)

I will not tolerate flaming in this thread, this is once again, a fragile subject, and people should feel safe in the knowledge that this thread is meant to encourage, not degrade. You get this warning, that's it... not kidding. Constructive criticism is fine, it's even encouraged, however, please bear in mind that a derogatory post will be deleted, and the author will be suspended, we don't need or want that kind of attitude.

Creative Freedom prides itself on being open, and understanding, we cater to and accept all levels of writing skill and all styles. With that said, I'd like to take the time to say that anyone who posts here will be met with understanding.


I can honestly say that I've always been judgmental of my work, whether it's my art, or my writing. I always wished I could paint a picture like Emily Dickinson, or have such a powerful force behind my writing like Mark Twain. I always compared myself to these people, to these established authors, and never saw the good aspects of my writing, never saw that I could write. I was far too busy degrading my own skill. Now, I have come to realize my strengths, I may not be the best author, but I can write, I can give life to a character, to a story, and spin it in a unique way. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, what do you feel yours are?

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Alright, I guess it's my turn then-

I'm always degrading myself in the simplest manner. I never finish. Sure I've done short stories that were easy to do, they have a beginning, middle and end all on one sheet of paper. All the detail missing, just the facts needed to make the story great. However, It's my life long dream to produce a novel. I want to be able to write like Laurell K Hamilton, Janent Evanovic, or Jaqueline Carey. I want to be able to spin a tale so wonderous and bold, something that keeps the readers hooked. But I can't.

Not to say that I can't as in I don't have the ability, but as in I can't because I start and never finish. I know I have spelling errors and some things I write tend to drag out or might not even need to be in there, and thats where my self-hate comes into play. I'll explain it like this.

*As I'm sitting there talking to (insert name here) I come up with an idea for an awesome book. Something that I just know people will want to read. Instantly I minimize my chat window and start to type. For hours and hours I type the story as it unfolds in my head. Then I hit a snag and since I can't figure out what to write next due to sudden writers block-I go through what I've written thus far hoping that once I read it the rest of the story comes to me. Usually it doesn't. I bring back up said chat messenger and continue to talk. Never looking at the story again*

x_X

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Umm... Here I go..

I'm really unhappy with my writing. Whenever I do and look back at what I've done before it never seems to improve in any way. It's so frustrating to see your posts unchanged over long spans of time without an inkling of visible improvment, no matter how much advise or new literary techniques you employ. What's worse is watching that steady growth of a partners posts when you keep hitting the baseline even when you do your very best to at the very least just match them. It's a problem because I compare my writing to everyone I roleplay with, it gets so discouraging knowing that my partner can keep making things different when I can't. I get reluctant to post because I don't want to want to force something that won't keep interesting them. I truly have no confidance in my writing, I can't find anyone who does it the same way and it doesn't feel up to par with everyone else around me.

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LBW-Thank you so much!

Okay so I guess i will go...

I honestly am content in the way of how my writing goes now adays. I used to have the thoughts of "Am I really good? Will they like it?

It helps a writer to have loads of encouragement along with critisim, if some thinks you could word somthing better, think it over and go off of thier advice but make it your own writing.

Now tho I hear others saying thier no good, and they are shy about thier work and or they arent writing to their full potential. When I see someone like this it tells me they are screaming out for encouagement and that they may need some guidence in getting comfertable with thier own writing. I my self have tooken up the opertunity to one on one with a rper here to help and critisie and encourage their work also hoping to guide them into their own writing style.

also when I see someone like this it doesnt help them to be shy, it only hinders them more. A person needs to be confident in what they do to fully let out thier creative side and let loose and show everyone what they can do. I say to someone with these feelings to go and write to the best of their ability and do not think about the reaction just write how you think you should. With encouragemetnt and positive critisim and guidence a person rping or writing creativly will be as good as any known author out there on the shelves.

*steps down*

-LBW

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Thanks Neianna, I'll take that to heart and the next time I start a story, I'll type and type until nothing comes. save+close and do something else. NO READING!! ^^

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Alright, here I go...

I Can't stand my writing. I'm not at all descriptive, even when I try to be. It takes me forever to turn out what I consider to be a decent paragraph or page, but even them I know its horrible. The description seems too flat to me. I've tried doing those exersizes where you descrobe something in your house, and I do the best I can, but it never seems like enough. And I never know how much or little to use detail in certain places. It really frustrates me- In fact, since I got out of school this past year, I haven't written at all in any of my stories and I feel really bad about it.

I also have never finished any of my stories. I don't know what it is, I just can't seem to get past about the middle of my stories. Sometimes I don't even make it that far. It's so depressing. I did NaNoWriMo for the very first time last year, and I reached my goal of 50,000 words, and I can't seem to do anything else with it. Or any other piece of work. I love writing, and I don't think its Writer's Block that's causing the incompleteness of my stories, but I don't know what else it could be?

Diagnosis? Advice?

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"I am the one that monsters have nightmares about."
-David Tenant, Dr. Who

I'm not sure Kellen. Perhaps you should give an example? Describe a banana or a basketball for us to read so we can give you a better response?

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Well I think that most people who create things are usually their worst critic, because they see all the little faults and mistakes whereas others seem to miss them. I too am not often pleased with my work, at least not completely. I notice about myself that I tend to not describe an area barely if at all in anything I write, its not something I am doing intentionally but its mostly that while writing I can picture the area in my head and therefore the thought of describing it does not ever come to mind. Why should I describe it when I can see it?

That's how my mind works and it reflects in my writing, which I am trying to work on but it is a process and even then i know that when I submit something to be published it is likely to be edited to some degree even if i felt that it was just perfect. But that is the life of an author which is why working with a trusted agent and knowing what you are getting into is so important least you jump into something that leaves you with money but little to no control over something you have created.

Other then that I know my spelling is horrible and that I tend to reuse a lot of the same words because of it. However, I have been really using MS Word and its built in thesaurus to change that and I have been happier with my resulting works because of it.

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I wish my vocabulary was wider, I'm ever searching for new ways to describe things because I hate to repeat myself, probably why I have difficulty writing stuff of any significant length. I think up characters and a vague concept but I lack the ability to form a structure, so I can begin but not end my stories very well. Something that was suggested to me which I hadn't really considered before is attempting to write the last chapter of said unwritten story, then work backwards, which I expect is the way mysteries are written.

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I tell you: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing star! - Friedrich Nietzsche