"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.."
-W. Somerset Maugham
I remember years ago when I was writing I often felt my material, whatever I was working on, was oft
en beyond my control. It was an wild, , twisting and uncontrolable monster that I would yearn to finish just to get it out of my sight. I did not have the confidence to control my own creations and much of what was published did not reflect my best work. I would hear criticism of those pieces and crawl into a corner someplace and lick my wounds. I felt anger for my inability to produce good and credible work and shame for those who would print it. I would not even use a blog like this one because it does not have a decent spell check. I am still a lousy speller.
Then my confidence in myself began to grow and in myself as a writer. I refused to accept anything but the best I could do; if someone did not like what I wrote then I
shrugged it off. What surprised me was not only did I like what I created but so did many others. If what I was writing was not the best I could do, I worked on it until it became what I wanted to represent me.
There are some writers who can sit down and write good prose, poetry, non-fiction and fiction without even editing or at least they say they don't. I am not one of those. Editing is part of the creative process and so is the daily writing I do both in my notebook, journal and of course the blogs. I don't do twitter as yet. It does not appeal to me. What has changed through the years is that I expect the best from myself. And, surprise, I get it at least for me I think I do.
I had a college professor many years ago tell me that I was a so so writer. No one tells me that anymore. Now, people often tell me that I have real talent. I write every day, rain or shine whether in mood or weather, I write.
I did not expect the best from me until I had the confidence in myself that I could do it. I still have the monkey mind on my shoulder as all writers do telling me that I am no good and will never be any good but now I have the presence of mind to tell it to shut the heck up.
-W. Somerset Maugham
I remember years ago when I was writing I often felt my material, whatever I was working on, was oft
en beyond my control. It was an wild, , twisting and uncontrolable monster that I would yearn to finish just to get it out of my sight. I did not have the confidence to control my own creations and much of what was published did not reflect my best work. I would hear criticism of those pieces and crawl into a corner someplace and lick my wounds. I felt anger for my inability to produce good and credible work and shame for those who would print it. I would not even use a blog like this one because it does not have a decent spell check. I am still a lousy speller.Then my confidence in myself began to grow and in myself as a writer. I refused to accept anything but the best I could do; if someone did not like what I wrote then I
shrugged it off. What surprised me was not only did I like what I created but so did many others. If what I was writing was not the best I could do, I worked on it until it became what I wanted to represent me.There are some writers who can sit down and write good prose, poetry, non-fiction and fiction without even editing or at least they say they don't. I am not one of those. Editing is part of the creative process and so is the daily writing I do both in my notebook, journal and of course the blogs. I don't do twitter as yet. It does not appeal to me. What has changed through the years is that I expect the best from myself. And, surprise, I get it at least for me I think I do.
I had a college professor many years ago tell me that I was a so so writer. No one tells me that anymore. Now, people often tell me that I have real talent. I write every day, rain or shine whether in mood or weather, I write.
I did not expect the best from me until I had the confidence in myself that I could do it. I still have the monkey mind on my shoulder as all writers do telling me that I am no good and will never be any good but now I have the presence of mind to tell it to shut the heck up.
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