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Types of feedback | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 hidden)

must be nice (3.00/1) (#4)
by janra on Wed Feb 12, 2003 at 06:19:19 PM PST

...to have enough self-confidence to let other people read your fiction, that is.

I have quite literally been writing since before I can remember (my mother tells me my first story was a run-on sentence two lines long which I very slowly typed out on her typewriter - I was probably 6 at the time) but I'm still uncomfortable letting people see my fiction. On those rare occasions that I actually let somebody read it, I have to fight myself to avoid asking for it back.

Oddly enough, my non-fiction I'm ok with (as you may have guessed from all the articles I've written on this site). I've also written a few things for a student newspaper, my website, and right now I'm working as a technical writer. I suppose fiction is more personal - enough so that I can't let it go.

People keep telling me that my writing is good, and I keep not believing them.

I desperately want to have somebody, some writer, tell me that my fiction isn't complete shit, but I'm terrified at the same time, no matter what they say. Either way, I don't know if my ego would survive :-/

--
Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?
[ Parent ]

I hear that (none/0) (#5)
by cachilders on Thu Feb 13, 2003 at 05:44:50 AM PST

but I would much rather people read my work and hate it, than if they were to never read it at all. At the same time, I've only let two people read my first novel, and no-one has read my second. I respond to all novel related questions by laughing and saying "it's still rough, you can read it once i've got it edited."

-c.a.
construct-d
[ Parent ]

Letting Go... (none/0) (#6)
by zoozoo on Mon Feb 17, 2003 at 07:09:44 PM PST

I think I've decided that all of mine is pretty bad, so if anybody recons it's OK, that's a bonus!

Is there any way you could make your fiction seem "less personal" to you, so you would be able to let it go?

[ Parent ]

I'm my own worst critic, so what the hell... (4.00/1) (#10)
by iorek on Thu Apr 03, 2003 at 07:03:04 PM PST

I know this is a really late reply, but I've turned a corner on this idea of putting myself out there, so I feel like sharing.

I don't know if taking yourself out of your writing is the best solution; taking time would be my suggestion. Time will tell why you write fiction. I think it's possible that you write it for yourself, your own enjoyment. You're certainly not ready to make your millions on it yet, anyway. ;-)

It seems like I've finally reached a stage where I can put myself out there (admittedly, just in some short stories so far) and take the criticism at face value. I'm not here because I took myself out of it (just the opposite); I think it has more to do with truly meaning it when I tell myself to "s**t or get off the pot."

Of course, having said that, I find that I enjoy knowing that people are reading my stuff just as much as I love writing it... Maybe I'm becoming an exhibitionist, not a writer... Oh well, whatever I'm going to be, I'm on my way now.

[ Parent ]

aren't all writers exhibitionists in a way? (none/0) (#11)
by janra on Wed Apr 09, 2003 at 07:09:14 PM PST

After all, we write for other people to read, don't we?

Oh, and it's never too late to reply - that's what the "Most Recent Comments" box on the right, down near the bottom is for. New comments, regardless of the age of the story, are listed there.

--
Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?
[ Parent ]

: To varying degrees... (none/0) (#12)
by iorek on Mon Apr 14, 2003 at 12:36:01 PM PST

But I have a feeling that some people would write, even if it was just in the sand with their finger, to be washed away with the tide each night. The first stuff that I wrote wasn't very good, but it was certainly cathartic. That isn't why I write these days, but I bet some writers spend their whole life purging... Or maybe that's just the romanticist in me.

[ Parent ]

Late, late reply. (none/0) (#7)
by blixco on Tue Feb 18, 2003 at 11:48:48 AM PST

I don't think it's self confidence. It's just a need to have the stuff read....that need overcomes the fear.

I'd be willing to read your stuff, should you want a complete stranger to take a look at it.
---------------------------------------
please, keep talking.
[ Parent ]

: thanks for the offer (none/0) (#8)
by janra on Fri Feb 21, 2003 at 05:25:09 AM PST

I'll keep it in mind :-)

I do have one or two fiction bits on my personal website, buried in the non-fiction, if you want to see what my style is...

--
Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?
[ Parent ]

On Readers (none/0) (#14)
by Pedestrian on Tue Aug 19, 2003 at 10:46:47 AM PST

Any professional writer will have something more concrete and useful to tell you than "You can't write." You're thinking of editors. ;) Seriously, though-I'll peek at your website sometime. Rebecca

[ Parent ]

Types of feedback | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 hidden)

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