Hello everybody,
I hope everyone is GREAT!
In today's article is about a common question most of the people ask to all Authors
.
Does A Big Ego Help or Hurt Authors?
Lets Get Started!
MY ANSWER IS,
Is that a trick question or a trap? I am chuckling as I respond to this
question because on occasion I have been accused of being arrogant. First,
let's ask ourselves why we would want to read the work of someone who was
unsure of themselves or was lacking in confidence. I occasionally run into
writers, usually young people, who lack confidence in their work. That is
understandable, and we all struggle with that lack of confidence in the early
stages of developing our craft. That lack of confidence is usually directed at
our wordsmithing skills however, not at our subject matter expertise. If we
didn't think we had something valuable to say on a subject, we probably
wouldn't start writing to begin with. Almost all writers have something they
find of value that they want to share with others.
What we usually doubt, is in either the developmental level of our craft
skills, or that others would find it as interesting as we do. The first doubt
can be removed by working hard to build our skills, it is mechanical and almost
everybody can develop that technical, mechanical skill. The second matter is
easy to evaluate, but can be much more difficult to improve on. When I first
started writing fiction, I put about twelve chapters together and wondered if
it was as good as i thought it was. I sent it off to about a dozen of my
friends to beta read, specifically chosing people of diverse perspectives,
ages, and areas of the country.
What I got back was a nearly universal appreciation for the work and many
asking me when the next chapters would be ready for them to read. The one
exception being my son, Sean.
THANK YOU for your time reading my articles today! if you have any ideas feel free to comments.
Your honest reviews is much appreciated.
VS Campbell
Author
There's a difference between having confidence and being arrogant. I always invite and welcome constructive critique and advice on my writing. It's how I grow; how I hone my craft. I enjoy sharing my perspective with others too, but then it is only one perspective of many. Curious as to what your son's actual response was !LOLZ I asked my kids for their honest and immediate response to something I wrote recently and they said...hmmm boring and feels like it was written in the olden times hahaha... ok! granted they are 10 and 12 and my youngest who is on the spectrum, has #nofilter... but it makes for interesting feedback. The piece was a bit beyond their general level of understanding but still 😂 kids, hey!!!💗
#dreemerforlife
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There you go Samsmith1971! That was my point also, but I find that one person's definition of self confidence is another person's arrogance. I'm just teasing, for me the difference is that an arrogant person can't take advice. I will say though, that giving advice is a touchy subject,. Unasked for, it is usually received as criticism, so I rarely give advice unless asked. The other thing about giving advice is that very often the giver is more focused on themselves than on the intended recipient. The proof is usually that the giver doesn't take the time to ask enough questions to determine the subject matter expertise of the intended recipient. I find this often, that people give advice without knowing what they are talking about.
As to what my son suggested, first he pointed out that I began my writing in first person present tense and that was going to be a problem as my story progressed. Actually I had already recognized that issue and was studying how to rewrite the first fifteen chapters into a third person past tense perspective. This is something I notice with beginning writers, they often write in first person. The other thing they do is to confuse narrative perspectives. For instance, instead of writing that the car "arrived at the house", they say "The car arrives at the house." That wasn't one of my issues but I notice it a lot in stories I read.
Another thing my son pointed out was that Gary Booker, a world class tech wizard, wouldn't drive a Cadillac CTS-V. We had quite a debate about that and I disagreed with his point. I do agree that in most characters of that type, he would have an Audi or Tesla, but Gary is a bit of a contrarian and he likes that his car is out of sync with his counterparts in the tech world. He is also a mercenary, and driving a 600 horsepower sedan with a modified suspension might come in handy.
Probably the biggest thought that Sean had was that it was hard for him to read the books because when Gary talks, Sean hears my voice. I can't argue against that, I am aware that the character is my alter ego and I enjoy using the stories to poke fun at the more bizarre aspects of human life.
Sam, I so appreciate your thoughtful comments and would love to read some of your work! Please let me know where to find it!!
hey Val, sounds like your son provided you with a valuable contribution in his feedback. I'm laughing now because I love first-person narrative and first-person present tense hahaha. I have been in exactly that situation where I have had to rewrite an entire piece because the tense came back to bite me in the proverbial. I have only been writing actively and regularly for the past two years and then have pretty much stuck to short stories and poetry on Hive with a bit of creative non-fiction thrown in every now and then, and whatever monthly challenge Dreemport is running with one of the niche communities. I have always loved writing though so getting stuck in and trying to develop and improve my writing, mostly through writing in The Ink Well and getting great feedback from the Admins there and from fellow writers who took the time to care. The stuff I write is on my Hive blog. I may write something longer one day... we'll see. I've written a couple of short story serial fiction pieces in Scholar and Scribe community too... I have one that I still need to finish! I like being challenged to write something different too.
I know it can be hectic digging through someone's blog so here are a few of mine if you fancy picking something that looks interesting to you... I need to catch up on some blogs this weekend so I'll pop by yours again too!
My latest post... A Creative Non-Fiction
My Dance Card is Full
A narrative short story:
Night of the Firefox
One with dialogue (lol):
Dreaming in Colour
Here's a poem...
The Enemy Within
And a discursive essay:
Apathy: A frailty of the Human Condition
And the serial short story I need to finish... Parts 1 and 2 are published...
The Threads That Bind
Sam, great to hear about your work. After my first experience of having to rewrite 15 chapters I haven't ventured back into first person. Well, that's not quite true. I did try one story but quickly found that it changed my mental process and interfered with my primary writing work. I decided that I didn't want to conflict my creative process. It's not that I dislike first person, I find it to be a very interesting and it does allow you to explore character perspectives in a different way than third person does.
I will definitely check out your work in the next few days. Right now we are in Philippines with family as I work on my next novel, which involves a para military mission on Mindanao. I would rather spend more quiet time with our children here, but when you are in an area, all of the extended family wants to come visit. That means it might take me a few days to get enough time to read your stuff. Thanks again!! I really appreciate talking to you.
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