I apologise that 1) I haven't been around much lately and 2) I don't have time to read over this. But I will second what the others here are saying.
Utilization the written word is something that can be accomplished in a short time, but mastery can take many years. Take a look at some of the stuff I've written around here - the most recent stuff is the result of two decades of painstaking grinding. Not the pieces themselves, but the experience that led up to that.
And you want to know what the hell of it is?
I still honestly to God feel that I have a long ways to go as a writer. I don't care if people are comparing me to Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Isaac Asimov, or Anne McCaffrey. It will feel wonderful to hear praise and accolades like that.
But I will always remain my own worst critic. I will always stare at a screen, either torturing myself with an empty space that needs to be filled, or looking at one that has been filled and screaming at myself "BUT IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" And it will be a rare moment where I can go back to something I've written and say, "This was good stuff. There's nothing I can do to make it better."
Writing is a little bit like martial arts. You cannot say that you are a master until another master says you are. And even then that master will only be able to teach you what his master taught him. And if you follow the line of masters all the way back to the oldest living grandmaster, he will tell you straight up: "Yes, people say I'm a master, but I'm still learning."
So don't be discouraged. You may have a ways to go, but so does the rest of us who try to write. Practice every day. Write something every day. Don't be afraid to go back and try to make it better. But on the same token, do this knowing that at some point in time you're going to have to put it out there and then leave it be.
Whelp, no more free time for me. Catch you guys later.
Utilization the written word is something that can be accomplished in a short time, but mastery can take many years. Take a look at some of the stuff I've written around here - the most recent stuff is the result of two decades of painstaking grinding. Not the pieces themselves, but the experience that led up to that.
And you want to know what the hell of it is?
I still honestly to God feel that I have a long ways to go as a writer. I don't care if people are comparing me to Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Isaac Asimov, or Anne McCaffrey. It will feel wonderful to hear praise and accolades like that.
But I will always remain my own worst critic. I will always stare at a screen, either torturing myself with an empty space that needs to be filled, or looking at one that has been filled and screaming at myself "BUT IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" And it will be a rare moment where I can go back to something I've written and say, "This was good stuff. There's nothing I can do to make it better."
Writing is a little bit like martial arts. You cannot say that you are a master until another master says you are. And even then that master will only be able to teach you what his master taught him. And if you follow the line of masters all the way back to the oldest living grandmaster, he will tell you straight up: "Yes, people say I'm a master, but I'm still learning."
So don't be discouraged. You may have a ways to go, but so does the rest of us who try to write. Practice every day. Write something every day. Don't be afraid to go back and try to make it better. But on the same token, do this knowing that at some point in time you're going to have to put it out there and then leave it be.
Whelp, no more free time for me. Catch you guys later.