Writing is for me a lot like drawing, except that I have less exercise. I know my drawing technique is rather good, but I don't consider myself an artist. Because I don't actually create art, I just copy things. Same goes for writing: I don't create plots or characters; I take what is there and make it my own.
On a more simple basis, I know I can write. It may not be good enough to be a professional, but compared to what else floats around the web, it's rather okay. So, I know I'm (relatively) good. However, that doesn't mean I think I'm good. Not when I struggle for every word, not when phrases that other people easily use come out clumsy. I also have phases where I can shape sentences the way I want them, and then there are days when everything goes wrong, sounds wrong. So that's the one thing: Thinking too much, not getting things the way I want them. And the other, sadly, is that I measure myself by the comments I get, which aren't so much since I write rather off-mainstream stuff and I won't talk about this any further because I keep wailing about it all the time anyway ;)
ETA: Also, what makes an artist? For me, it is the need to create. And as sad as this sounds, I could very well get by without writing. It's not necessary for me like I believe it should be. On the other hand it's one of the few things that don't constantly make me ask "why am I doing it anyway? What do I get from it?" It's very relieving, in a way.
As for why I am posting, well, I don't have a clue. The thing is I started writing after I learned that others did it too, so maybe I just wanted to belong to this group,or maybe a story doesn't feel finished unless it's made public. But at the moment I'm not posting anything, not even what I wrote before the writer's block of doom (tm) kicked in. Why? I don't know. Probably the arrogant kid part in me that says "if I don't get any reaction on what I do, why keep sharing it?" And this may be a forbidden question in fandom and has been cause of thousands of discussions and You Do Not Ask For Comments, but if I'm fully honest, I see that there's some truth in it.
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Date: 2008-02-18 04:36 pm (UTC)Writing is for me a lot like drawing, except that I have less exercise. I know my drawing technique is rather good, but I don't consider myself an artist. Because I don't actually create art, I just copy things. Same goes for writing: I don't create plots or characters; I take what is there and make it my own.
On a more simple basis, I know I can write. It may not be good enough to be a professional, but compared to what else floats around the web, it's rather okay. So, I know I'm (relatively) good. However, that doesn't mean I think I'm good. Not when I struggle for every word, not when phrases that other people easily use come out clumsy. I also have phases where I can shape sentences the way I want them, and then there are days when everything goes wrong, sounds wrong.
So that's the one thing: Thinking too much, not getting things the way I want them. And the other, sadly, is that I measure myself by the comments I get, which aren't so much since I write rather off-mainstream stuff and I won't talk about this any further because I keep wailing about it all the time anyway ;)
ETA: Also, what makes an artist? For me, it is the need to create. And as sad as this sounds, I could very well get by without writing. It's not necessary for me like I believe it should be. On the other hand it's one of the few things that don't constantly make me ask "why am I doing it anyway? What do I get from it?" It's very relieving, in a way.
As for why I am posting, well, I don't have a clue. The thing is I started writing after I learned that others did it too, so maybe I just wanted to belong to this group,or maybe a story doesn't feel finished unless it's made public. But at the moment I'm not posting anything, not even what I wrote before the writer's block of doom (tm) kicked in. Why? I don't know. Probably the arrogant kid part in me that says "if I don't get any reaction on what I do, why keep sharing it?"
And this may be a forbidden question in fandom and has been cause of thousands of discussions and You Do Not Ask For Comments, but if I'm fully honest, I see that there's some truth in it.