The unbearable lightness of ego

[jaylake]

I thought a lot about whether to make this post. I finally decided to explain myself a bit, in the spirit of offering my experiences in a burgeoning career as I have been doing here for a while.

Comments

Lavender in the evening, as the light begins to fail

[bravado111]

Thanks Jay,

Nice insight. So, I can see kenscholes and he can see you, so you can pass word back down the tunnel what color the sky is.

[sartorias]

I really like your distinction between writer heart and writer head. It's a tough thing (and some of us, well, I, hem, may never learn) the transition between writer heart saying, "Oh, this was such a joy to live. it's ready to take off and fly out there," and writer head saying, "Thou tushfeeble blateroon! Why didst not wait?"

[amberdine]

When I went to Viable Paradise the most important thing I learned was something they undoubtedly didn't mean to teach: that successful writers were generally just as neurotic as us wannabes. Publication wasn't a miracle cure.

Once I realized that, I also realized that it was up to me to figure out how to write and still be at peace. My imagined happiness was no longer in the hands of some editor out there.

[ellameena]

Here's a thought to twist your brain. Almost all writers think their stories are better than they actually are--or they have moments where they think that. It takes practice, strength, and time to overcome the barrier of being too close to your work to be objective. Once you get that distance, you can see flaws in it. Big flaws. You might even realize your story sucks, and should not see the light of day.

But wait--why did you write it? Something about that story sold ITSELF to you. Is that thing on the page? Probably not. That's why it sucks. I believe that most writers have worldbeater ideas. Only a few of them can get those ideas onto the page without screwing them up. The ones who think their writing is really great, but actually sucks haven't figured that out yet.

happiness

[anonymous]

I find that happiness is the physical act of writing. All the rest is smoke and mirrors.

Jeff