I’m a writer. At least, I want to be. According to many sources, one is a writer as long as they write, but I would add that one is a writer as long as they write consistently, and of their own choice. A good writer will try to improve their writing, constantly—and a good writer will improve their writing by writing more, getting feedback and finding the problems in their writing, and improving on their weak points. The problem with the desire for improvement comes when a writer wants to be perfect right away.
Who wouldn’t want to write perfectly? Every “real” writer wants to write to the best of their ability. But there are people who see their writing and look on it with distaste, because it is simply not good enough, and throw it away. This is the best way not to improve on one’s writing.
I have done it myself. I took a break, more or less, from writing for about a year, and late last year I tried to return to writing, only to find that my writing skills had seriously declined. I wrote short, choppy scenes, two-dimensional characters, and awkward dialogue. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t write like I used to. I would get mad about my writing and leave it “temporarily,” not wanting to deal with my mediocre scribblings anymore at that time. Then I would put off returning to it, because I didn’t like it. I have bits and pieces of stories I have never returned to after casting them aside in frustration. But I have learned that sometimes writing has to suck in order to get better. Now I try to write even when I don’t like it. I can always edit my writing later, but I need to write and write and write in order to get back into things. And slowly, I am improving.
How to lose your mind? Well, if you’re a writer, you’re halfway there already; it just comes with the job. But to lose the other half of your mind, try to be a writer and don’t write because it isn’t good enough. Between your desire to get better and be perfect, your disgust with your own work, and your lack of actual writing because you hate your writing, you’ll be out of your head in no time.
“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne
-Chantel-
