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Friday, September 30, 2016

Dear “My Writing Sucks!” Writer



Dear “My Writing Sucks!” Writer,

“My writing sucks!” This is a statement many writers say at every stage of writing (first draft, last draft, every editing round, before and after critiques). We say this because we expect perfection. We want our stories to be golden right from the start, but that never happens, and that’s fine. Actually, that’s great! You want to be able to make your story better as you go.

The fact is, every writer thinks their writing is crap. It’s normal. We read amazing published books by best-sellers and compare their skill to ours. We can’t help it, can we? These authors are the ones we admire, so it’s easy to feel that our writing is inadequate next to theirs.

But these authors go through this same thing. They can think their writing sucks, too! And they have! The only difference is they have professional, top-of-the-line editors to help them. Once they’re done, their book is the gem that we later buy, read, and praise.

The same is true of your book. Once you’re done perfecting it, it is the gem that readers and other writers praise.

So remember, you may hate your work-in-progress now. You may think your writing is crap, but it won’t stay that way for long, will it? Not if you’re determined.


Grab your determination and turn your crappy writing to gold!




Author of Hurricane Crimes, Seismic Crimes, 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. Blogger. Reader. Auntie. Vegetarian. Cat Lover.

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8 comments:

Pat Hatt said...

Over the years mine has become less crappy and hopefully it will continue to be so.

Liz A. said...

If we didn't think our writing was crap, we wouldn't know how to make it better.

Chrys Fey said...

@Pat, it's rare for us to decline if we keep at it.

@Liz, good point!

Darla M Sands said...

Excellent advice. We need to just keep plugging away. Don't we?

Lisa Thomson said...

Very inspirational, Chrys. I definitely need to hear this message.

Chrys Fey said...

@Daria, yes, we do. :D

@Lisa, I'm glad I could give it to you.

Unknown said...

It is always good to be reminded that we aren't as dreadful as we think we are. I go through stages like that and it is very soothing to know I am not alone.

John Wiswell said...

A considerate ego-boost post! And I strongly recommend that anyone who thinks their work simply sucks look at it closer. What about it is failing? Do test-readers agree? If so, then you can write new stories to exercise those parts of your game, training up to competence.