Sunday, August 31, 2008

Being insecure

One of the things I like about the writing book I am reading __ "Don't Murder Your Mystery" __ is that it knows and acknowledges one of the most fundamental traits of all aspiring writers. We are insecure.

Now as a writer, I am not totally insecure. I have been a writer for years and long away stopped trying to guess-timate how many words I have writtern for print. It's in the millions.

But writing fiction is new to me. I have dabbled in it for years but have only started taking it seriously for the last couple of years.

This evening I was reading a portion of the book on revising, which the author says you must be willin got do over and over again. But the techniques of revision, such as with most writing, can vary. As a writer, you have options.

The author hates it when someone puts forward his way as 'The Way." I am uncomfortable with that too.

The writer says:

"When aspiring writers, already insecure, realize they aren't doing things the way they think a real author is suppose to, they have one more reason to feel inadequate.
The truth is, one one way is the right way. Revising, like writing, is a creative process, too complex to reduce to a formula."

Those are true words, and good thoughts to keep in mind.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hello, MB:

Thank you for mentioning Don't Murder Your Mystery. (Google Alerts let me know.) I'd love to know what else you don't like about the advice you and other writers get. I'm in the process of collecting pet peeves about advice-giving, with maybe a separate list for peeves about attending conferences for writers.
Keep up the good work!
Chris