tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post7151075726668326573..comments2023-06-23T09:34:42.832-04:00Comments on The Walrus Said: Confidence and the writer, continuedJanethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04600030574995481267noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post-76622354010336242982009-02-26T21:26:00.000-05:002009-02-26T21:26:00.000-05:00Precisely. Perfectionism paralyzes. A love of ex...Precisely. Perfectionism paralyzes. A love of excellence does not. I don't think I've reached the standards I set for myself with my first book, but hopefully it will be good enough to publish and I will be able to do better next time.<BR/><BR/>As for producing classics, I'll let posterity decide. I'll just do my best.<BR/><BR/>Have you found a kind of bipolar perfectionism to have been a major hindrance in your own case? Did you confront an editor for the first time without the benefit of beta readers or a critique group? (For the benefit of those who don't know her, Amba is a writer/editor who runs one of my favourite blogs. Click over to take a look.)Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600030574995481267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post-49082023160883103072009-02-26T21:01:00.000-05:002009-02-26T21:01:00.000-05:00The abandonment of superlative thinking is a very ...The abandonment of superlative thinking is a very good thing. When it comes to almost anything, not just writing. "The perfect is the enemy of the good."ambahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12042450225428891273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post-51727559135175498072009-02-26T11:57:00.000-05:002009-02-26T11:57:00.000-05:00I don't know, amba. It doesn't work that way for ...I don't know, amba. It doesn't work that way for me. Sometimes I think it's crud even as I'm writing it (that's hard) and when I read it after it's had time to cool off, I'm pleasantly surprised. It needs fixing, sure, but it's fixable. Other times I thought I was doing OK and yet when I reread, I groan. That's when I get depressed... ;o)<BR/><BR/>Not thinking in superlatives helps a lot, I find. My writing is not the best thing since sliced bread, neither is it the work of a hack. I think it's good enough for people to connect to it. <BR/><BR/>I know my MS has room for improvement, I also know that will also be the case. I think it's good enough now to query. If I wait till it's "perfect" it will take ten years. I'm sure I'll go into a bit of a funk the first time an editor pokes holes in it, but I've been critiqued before. I can take it.<BR/><BR/>It was the abandonment of superlative thinking that helped me get going, actually. Among other things.Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600030574995481267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post-49350109670196173532009-02-26T11:38:00.000-05:002009-02-26T11:38:00.000-05:00I find the problem to be something different. Wri...I find the problem to be something different. Writing is at least hypomanic-depressive. Once you break through the sludge and get warmed up and get going, the process has its own drug-like, delirious confidence. You are just so amazed that this stuff is coming out of you, or through you. It all seems precious and magical.<BR/><BR/>Then, one of two things. Either you remain uncritically in love with it until some editor or critic breaks the spell -- and then you're shattered -- or you look at it in a colder moment and your soaring belief in it just looks delusional. Either way, you crash. How to find a realistic middle ground between being possessed by the conviction of your own genius (or the genius of that which possesses you) and complete shame and defeatism?ambahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12042450225428891273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post-30537942245667846512009-02-19T17:56:00.000-05:002009-02-19T17:56:00.000-05:00Thanks for stopping by, ladies. May all your self...Thanks for stopping by, ladies. May all your self-confidence be merited!Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600030574995481267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post-3502004977150599272009-02-19T14:37:00.000-05:002009-02-19T14:37:00.000-05:00I completely agree with your thoughts about confid...I completely agree with your thoughts about confidence, meaning that you don't have to think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread to keep your confidence up.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the link to JA's post...I can't believe I missed that one!Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11705320883615938075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810438.post-91744348667800534392009-02-19T11:53:00.000-05:002009-02-19T11:53:00.000-05:00Interesting comments here - thanks for sharing!Interesting comments here - thanks for sharing!Melanie Hooyengahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08781235493983907234noreply@blogger.com