Comments on: Not good enough.

By: Poet ad nauseum--Poemblaze

Poet ad nauseum--Poemblaze — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 13:55:17 +0000

Delayed response.

Well, I like darn near all your writing, so either I have no taste or you are being more than a little hard on yourself. If you think my writing/critiques are any good, then consider the source. Likewise if you think my writing sucks. Hope to see you again on Tuesday.

By: roomtemp

roomtemp — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:58:45 +0000

it's all about why you do it, isn't it?

like any other arts-based career, the answer is your own particular calculus of yourself-and-your-own-expectations played against everyone-else-and-their-expectations and balanced by the depth and breadth of your talent. am i the capital-a-artist who capital-c-creates the work and puts it forth pure and whole for a world (never mind whether they get it), or maybe the steady jobber who makes some money off of the craft of writing, cashing checks for a few hundred here and there from small-circulation magazines printed on inferior paper with pixelated images, or the genius whose work is discovered by a landlady cleaning out the detritus of dead genius's room, or a successful whiz at some genre fiction that you dislike just enough to see clearly the formula for ... and so on.

and it's rarely so clean. you give a little here, you hold out there. how much should you listen to other people, how much should you change your work, how closely should you hew to your own ideas?

you have to decide who you're writing for, then let that answer determine whether you've any reasons to write at all. maybe your particular outlet of creative expression isn't through writing. it's certainly possible. but maybe it is and you're just going through the hard times of a person who's used to being quickly more-than-competent at most anything you take up, only now you're up against something that's a real challenge.

it is not a trait exclusive to southerners, but as a mississippian i cannot but admire people who stick with a thing--job, place, or person--through thick and thin. like hopkins--“sheer plod makes plough down sillion shine”--i find truth and beauty can come from the meanest of places and methods. anyway, i hope you figure it out.

By: A Whole Can of Plot

A Whole Can of Plot — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:40:53 +0000

I love you dearly, my nihilist friend. On the bright side, nihilistic phases have produced some of the greatest work ever. Write, even when it hurts – especially when it hurts. In that weird dimension of abandon there is the strangest brilliance.
To give up now would be folly, and to not send the work (even the work you feel is slightly inadequate), only leaves you in a place where you are always aspiring and never achieving. Not only do I like your writing, but I think you are getting better at it. Now is a good time to hear this from someone you don’t know. Send it, get it published.
As for rejections, my ratio is 12.5:1 at the moment. This aspect we can only treat as business – either publishers want us to work for them or they don’t. If they don’t then we move on, or offer them something else.
I know I’m telling you things you already know. We need resolve most when it is hardest to find.

By: nona

nona — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 07:34:16 +0000

right on, sunjunkie – – –
if the comment can be considered an example, your writing and insight are superior. Hope anarkey takes note.

By: Sunjunkie

Sunjunkie — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:21:33 +0000

WARNING: If you're looking for sympathetic noises, go to the next comment.

"Not good enough"? For whom? Or what? And why? Because it's not perfect? (Not a perfectionist, my eye.) You've got yourself all tangled up in expectations of greatness. Get out of your own damn way and just write. I've read some of your stuff. It IS good enough. It is also unconventional, which makes it harder to place. Especially if you don't send it out.

Re: rejection. Get more. Get used to it. It generally has nothing to do with the quality of your work. I have a picture book manuscript that has been praised not just by critique groups, but by agents and editors as well. Yet it has been rejected 21 times. So far. (Thanks for reminding me I need to send it somewhere new.) Meanwhile, I've sold 4 books, 3 short stories, and an essay. They are nowhere near perfect, but they are good enough. A lot of your stuff is better than a lot of my stuff, and you know it.

You can't know whether something's good enough until you FINISH it. Until then, it's only a draft. Go read _Bird by Bird_ by Annie Lamott. Then get back to work.

Hugs and kisses ;-)