Badger Patch Press

I suffer from it.   All aspects of my life suffer from it, but since this is a writing blog, I’ll explain how it pertains to my writing.

Every time I send out something I’ve written for another person (or persons) to read, I immediately want to take it back.  Is it good enough?  Is it written well enough for the reader to understand it?  How can I make it better?  Is it memorable?

Of course, the questions give way to statements… This is not my best work.  They’re just saying it’s good to make me feel better, but it sucks.  My descriptions are generic and uninspired.  Cliché.  Boring.  My characters don’t talk to my readers.  The plot is stupid.  This sucks.  I suck.  I hate this story.

And so on.

Over time, this has led to me being unable to edit my work into anything resembling publishable form.  I’ve written outlines to several dozen novels.   My computer is full of half-finished drafts.  I have a complete first draft to a novel that I absolutely detest- even though I loved it at the time and so did my beta reader.

Ok, I know I’m not a bad writer.  I’ve seen bad writing.  I’ve seen bad writing that’s been published.  What I worry about is that I’m just too average of a writer to get anywhere with it.  There are so many authors out there that I worry that if I don’t create something that’s NEW and FRESH and ORIGINAL that my manuscript will end up in every slush pile in America, and my hard work will never be seen.

I’ve toyed around with the thought of self-publishing; still, there’s no guarantee my work will sell.  Or, I can just forget the whole publishing aspect of it and keep my words to myself.  Lots of options there, but it still doesn’t alleviate my insecurity about my writing.

The best solution for this, I’ve decided, is to join a writers group.  I did find one and went on Wednesday, and so far I feel rather comfortable with this group.  I didn’t get a chance to share anything I’ve written, mostly because I wasn’t able to print out my story before showing up, but from the feedback everyone was giving, I am looking forward to when I can get my own.  I did post a story on the group site and while I have only gotten one response, it was good feedback that I will use to rewrite.  This is a new group, so time will tell if it will be beneficial to me in the long run.  I hope so.  I liked the people that were there, and I’m looking forward to the next meeting.

Now, I shall go edit something.  I have a lot to do this year and sitting around watching youtube videos isn’t going to get me anywhere, as entertaining as it is.  hehe