Confidence and Rejections

[Ray McCarthy]

In truth, when you begin writing you will have no idea what anyone will think. If the writer has some level of integrity, he or she will always do her best work and will eventually discover whether others are indifferent, wildly enthusiastic or something else altogether. But the assumption of the nervous writer engaged in this doomscript – this omnipotent view – is that she has already aggressively provoked or hurt someone. Not only that: these “neighbours” will retaliate. There will be guilt and a terrible conflict, so why bother at all?

Hanif Kureishi: even the best writers face rejection

Though you need to write and edit as well as you can. Simply churning out a draft copy won't do at all. I've decided actually to not give a MSS to a reader until I've edited it completely. I can "afford" the risking time as I write quickly. Though I'm a poor typist, I type about as quick as as I think, which may be noticeable in many of my posts here.

 

[tinkerdan]

The Virginia Woolf rejection letter for James Joyce is interesting in that the typewritten document if rife with errors and I think she was in need of a fresh ribbon.

I'd say for the most part from what I've heard that the two rejection letters are for more informative than those being passed around these days.

As for the article::
It seems more one of an examination of the psychological impact of rejection. Or maybe a sense of someone using psychology to bolster their notions of self importance. But then; I did stop after two years of psychology and sociology in college so maybe I'm missing something.

I'd say forget all that mumbo jumbo and witch-doctor science and get over it and continue writing and submitting the MS.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

continue writing and submitting the MS.

Yes.
Most people likely get a bit better the more they write. I'm still not very good, but better than 500,000 words ago.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Yes.
Most people likely get a bit better the more they write. I'm still not very good, but better than 500,000 words ago.

That's only half the battle. We can keep writing the same mistakes over and over again, and never improve past a certain point. We need to be getting feedback we can incorporate into our writing. It's not enough just to write - we also need to learn.

 

[ratsy]

Yes.
Most people likely get a bit better the more they write. I'm still not very good, but better than 500,000 words ago.

Ray, if you're saying you're not very good then why are you publishing your work?

Jo, I try to be a sponge, and I'm always amazed at how many things I constantly notice while I'm writing that I didn't even a year ago.

 

[tinkerdan]

Just remember that you are not going to stop learning. But if you stop writing to learn you may never start again. So it's important to keep writing while you learn.

 

[Wruter]

If you know what you’re doing, it isn’t art.

Well this is wonderful news, because I don't have a clue.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Just remember that you are not going to stop learning. But if you stop writing to learn you may never start again. So it's important to keep writing while you learn.

Absolutely - the two compliment each other.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Ray, if you're saying you're not very good then why are you publishing your work?

I didn't say I'm no good.
I think lots of successful authors I've bought and enjoyed are poorer than me.
I think it's good enough to publish, but I aspire to greatness.

Do you have to be very good before being published?

 

[Ray McCarthy]

We need to be getting feedback we can incorporate into our writing. It's not enough just to write - we also need to learn.

Yes, that's obvious. That's why you need readers that can give good feedback, why you need to study books on technique and to read LOTS (inside and outside your genre). Doing is the most important part of the learning. Consider riding bike or driving car or painting.

 

[ratsy]

I get it Ray. You had said 'I'm still not very good.' and that implied you weren't happy with it. I mean, if you said I'm not very good at driving, I wouldn't expect to see you at the Indy 500

 

[tinkerdan]

On the other hand there's NASCAR::

But Petty acknowledged he "was not a great driver."

 

[Ray McCarthy]

and that implied you weren't happy with it.

No, I'm not happy with the quality. That doesn't mean it's not worth reading.

One of my early purchasers of first published work turns out to be an editor, among other things. A busy person but interested, she's edited lots worse it's going to be an interesting summer.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I didn't say I'm no good.
I think lots of successful authors I've bought and enjoyed are poorer than me.
I think it's good enough to publish, but I aspire to greatness.

Do you have to be very good before being published?

I think you can strive to make it as good as it can be before publishing. For me, very good is certainly what I hope for.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I think you can strive to make it as good as it can be before publishing

Certainly I'm putting in the effort (and serious time edit / proof reading / edit etc.*) to make them as good as I can make them.
I have non-family beta readers.

[* five to seven days a week, three to sixteen hours a day. I start between 8am and 11am and often end 10pm. Sometimes after a break I might work till 4.30am. I'd alternate a half day or day proof reading and annotating with then editing at later revisions. On earlier revisions I read the entire text with out annotating, read entirety again annotating and then edit entire text, for breaks I eat, sleep, do weekly shopping, read a book (about 4hrs for a slimmer one) or come here.]

 

[Ray McCarthy]

His creator was Ian Fleming, a cynical, not-very-clean-living newspaperman with a chequered career behind him, who wrote the book to take his mind off ‘the agony’ of getting married for the first time. Even Jonathan Cape, his publisher, thought the book ‘not up to scratch’, but brought it out in a modest print run as a favour to Fleming’s then better-known brother Peter, among other things the Spectator columnist ‘Strix’ for many years.

I have a couple of Peter Fleming books. I wonder is it true that Casino Royale was published as a favour. IMO, Peter is a MUCH better writer than Ian. Proof that success isn't just about how good you are?
It’s time to kill James Bond