Monday 6 April 2015

E is for...Exceeds Expectations

Welcome back to the A-Z blogging challenge 2015! Hope you all had a lovely day off yesterday :).

Today's post is all about the letter E...



There are a lot of nice words that begins with the letter E. Excellent, exceptional, exemplary, exquisite, egotistical...oh wait.

As a writer, I don't think I've ever written something and then thought 'OMG, this chapter I've just written is EXQUISITE!' Hahahaha, no. It doesn't happen like that. At least, not for me.

But I'm here to tell you something...as a writer (and in everyday life, now that I think about it), I'm generally extremely self-conscious, have very little confidence, and I can be a nervous wreck. There are so many things that I agonise over when I'm writing - am I getting this character's description right? Am I telling rather than showing the reader this important piece of information? Is this character relatable? Is my villain actually a villain, or just a cartoon character with a twirly moustache? Will anyone actually read AND LIKE what I've written??

But here's the thing. You don't have to hate everything you've written.

Sometimes you're going to have days when you want to cry and chuck your computer/notepad in the bin. And other days, you're going to write something and think, 'y'know what? This isn't so bad. I can work with this.' And that's great! So often in life we're forced into thinking that we don't deserve X,Y & Z. We don't deserve to feel good about ourselves (why else would the gym/dieting industry be booming?). But you know what? Quite often, that's just a load of bull.

Suffering from extreme anxiety means I quite often hate what I've written. Or I like it for a while, but then I manage to convince myself it's actually terrible and I have no business being a writer. But that's just my own personal demon that I have to face. I face it everyday, and everyday I keep writing. I keep trying to improve on what I've written. I keep practicing and I keep going. And maybe, just maybe, at the end of the day I'll be able to sit back and think, 'this doesn't totally suck.'

So, what I'm trying to say is - it's okay to love your writing. Hell, if you didn't love and believe in you're writing, I very much doubt you'd be writing a novel or whatever in the first place. It's that belief, and that love for your world and your characters, that keeps you going. If you believe in what you're doing, your readers will too.

So the next time you write something that surprises you, or you manage to exceed your own expectations - go with it. Don't beat yourself up about it. Don't think you're a fake, or a sham. You're not. You're a writer - and you, more than anyone, need to believe in your own words.

19 comments:

  1. I love this post. You're so right. Us writers are a critical bunch. We have to be. Of we didn't critique, we'd never improve. But some are too critical and allow it to cripple and stifle them. Ultimately, if you don't love your own writing, how can we expect anyone else to love it?

    http://tdharveyauthor.com

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    1. Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Exactly - if we're not passionate about our words, why should anyone else be?

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  2. I love this post. You're so right. Us writers are a critical bunch. We have to be. Of we didn't critique, we'd never improve. But some are too critical and allow it to cripple and stifle them. Ultimately, if you don't love your own writing, how can we expect anyone else to love it?

    http://tdharveyauthor.com

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  3. As someone who drafts and redrafts a lot, I sometimes come back to a project and I'm quite impressed with what I've written. It doesn't last, of course, I can always find something to bring me back down to earth, but that feeling is nice while it lasts.

    I think we should use the word 'exquisite' more often :-)

    Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep

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    1. That's great! We should all try and feel more positive about our work :). Yes, we should! I'm going to try and write it into my next book ;)

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  4. The day I'm completely satisfied with what I right will be the day I give up! Half the fun for me is the editing, re-writing andwriting again!

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    1. Haha, fair enough! I hate the thought of editing/rewriting, but once I get down to it, I actually enjoy making my writing better :)

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  5. The day I'm completely satisfied with what I right will be the day I give up! Half the fun for me is the editing, re-writing andwriting again!

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  6. Stopping by during the #Challenge on the blogs marked (WR) because that's the designation I gave for the #Challenge. When I hear people agonizing over their writing, fretting and having no fun, I want to say...then stop writing! Editing and rewriting will take care of our blunders, so write and enjoy the process, the research, the new writing friends we meet through our blogs. We wouldn't be happy if we didn't write, so ENJOY it.

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    1. Hi Stepheny! Thanks for dropping by :)! Exactly! And editing and rewriting can be quite fun - it's only by doing that that we manage to finally write the story as we see it in our mind!

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  7. That's a great advise and I am glad I stopped by. I totally agree to you there.

    I came over from the AtoZ sign up list and I am happinessandfood there #458

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by :)! I hope you're enjoying the challenge :)

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  8. Such great Encouraging words! Thank you!

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  9. I will re-read and find little gems and sometimes things that make me cringe.

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    1. That's exactly how I feel, Elizabeth! I think all writers go through this - it's that critical streak that makes us better writers - we just have to be careful not to let it take over!

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  10. I will re-read and find little gems and sometimes things that make me cringe.

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  11. Exactly, Rachel! I'm often amazed how good my stuff is when I read it way after it's been published. I've been at writing for so long, you'd think I'd believe in myself by now.
    The View from the Top of the Ladder

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    1. Aww, that's great :)!! I really really hope one day I can look back at my books at think I've done a good job - I'm still stuck in the 'no one will ever like this' phase! You should definitely believe in yourself more!

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