Worried That Your Writing Might Not Be Any Good?

My last post (Making It in the Middle) was on trying to figure out what it means to be successful as a writer. Now, I want to address the “is my writing any good” question. Most writers worry about that. Even very successful ones — some of whom left instructions to destroy their unpublished work after their deaths like Franz Kafka, Virgil and Harlan Ellison. Thank goodness, other minds prevailed.

Good/Bad vs Acceptance/Rejection

Sometimes we are so in love with what we’ve written we can’t see beyond the scribbles. At some point a writer needs affirmation, not just from other writers, but also from an outside professional—someone who doesn’t know him/her from Adam. We need to be accepted by a publication, an agent, an editor, a juried show, or win a contest, a competitive mentorship or a grant. As conflicted souls, that affirmation is critical to us keeping up on our keeping on.

Enter contests, try for mentorships, send out material. (You’d be surprised at how many writers are just too nervous/afraid/or critical of their own work that they won’t submit anything!) However, you do need skin like a turtle’s shell to accept rejection—time and time, again. I learned this early on. I had over 300 rejections on about 20 manuscripts I was circulating before I got my first acceptance on a book manuscript, 2 ½ years later. Part of this was a learning process for I did not have an agent at the time. I learned a lot about rejection. Sometimes it isn’t that the writing is bad, it’s simply that it doesn’t fit at the moment. Note all the well-published authors who faced many rejections: J. K. Rowling, John Le Carré, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Dr. Seuss, to name just a few. Sixteen traditionally published books later, I am still getting rejections. (Thank goodness! It means I continue to work it.)

Good is Subjective

Will any acceptance tell you whether your writing is good? Not for certain. For the idea of good is subjective. And many highly successful writers would tell you that their writing stinks, but so-and-so’s is great!  I say, settle for accepted. I feel I’ve crossed a threshold when something I write is accepted for publication, mentioned, or causes a fan to write me. Whether my writing is good, or not, I’ve no idea. I do know from a trained critical perspective, that I’ve learned to write fluently, clearly, and with heart and humor.  That is enough.

Support Matters

An honest — and caring — critique group or just a single writer friend can be of immense help. If you’re timid about submitting material, they/she/he can be in your corner rooting for you, helping you decide where to send it, and happy dancing with you when you get an acceptance. Of course, this leads to another question. If I don’t get an acceptance, should I stop writing?

No way! If you have a passion for sounds, words and stories what’s your alternative? As Jane Yolen says in her wonderful book on writing, you simply need to take joy in the process. There is excitement and significance in telling your first reader — yourself — your stories. Didn’t we do that as children repeating breathlessly our favorite funny things we overheard? Or if crouched in the dark, didn’t we console ourselves with story? Stories are integral to our survival. Keep writing, keep submitting, and you never know what will happen. One day the perfect reader will lean back in a chair and heave a deep sigh of satisfaction by something you wrote. For as Raymond Chandler said, “Any man who can write a page of living prose adds something to our life …”  (BTW: That goes for any woman, too.)

Who knows? You may even get a fan letter!