Writer's should be their own harshest critic.
By megamatt
@megamatt (14291)
United States
June 13, 2011 9:00am CST
I have heard this statement before and really, a lot of the best writers out there, are going to find flaws in what they are doing, even if everyone is praising it to the high heavens. Granted, nothing is perfect and we always have a chance to improve. If we think everything that we write is the greatest thing since sliced bread, then it really does hurt our upward mobility as a writer. There is always room for improvement, which is a good idea to have, to avoid falling into a rut. So in the end, writer's should be their own harshest critic.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
13 Jun 11
Very, very true indeed. What we need to know is that there is going to be some room for improvement all of the time. We are going to understand this, really understand what criticism we are going to need, and exactly how we are going to to improve from there. People from all walks in life need to be critical of their own actions and what they do. At least that will improve the actual quality of their work in many ways. Thanks for responding. Its appreciated. Have a nice day.
@SkyeHi (84)
• India
14 Jun 11
But you know a lot of people tend to turn a blind eye to their mistakes. They're simply ignorant of their flaws and if pointed out by some critic they fight and argue against them. So sometimes other people are needed to be an effective critic. Cause everyone's views on a single point can be different
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
16 Jun 11
That point is one that is extremely true. A lot of the time, we just see what we want to see when we do anything. We have an idea of what the product should be in our head. Our ideas tend to be without flaws sometimes. After all, who expects to go into a project, with a hundred percent need for a failure. That is just setting yourself up for a great disaster.
Oddly enough with perspective, we might be able to pick together a lot of flaws later, but when it is fresh on our minds, when we know what should be there, because that is something that we are actively working on, that does not really work so much in that time. I do in fact think that there does sometimes need to be an extra set of eyes watching over our every move, in an attempt to figure out what went wrong, what needs to be fixed, pretty much everything like that. To really tell us that this is not a good idea and it really should be something that needs to be altered. A blindspot for many people for sure.
@KingLobster (219)
• United States
13 Jun 11
I agree and disagree with this statement. I feel like there are many people on both ends of the spectrum. You certainly have people who are far too into themselves and their writing. They think they are literally the best thing since sliced bread. This means that they are just not being critical enough of their own work. Many times others are able to notice flaws in their work, but the overconfident writer just ignores them or believes that they are jealous.
On the flip side of this, I feel like there are many writers out there who are simply not confident enough in their abilities. Any time I have ever heard of someone else who writes, I have asked to see what they have written. They almost always deny me the chance to do this. They are not proud of what they have done. In fact, they are too embarrassed to let me even have a look. With these people, it is probably the case that they are just worried about being judged. They are being too critical of themselves.
For myself personally, I don't really mind if others see what I write. I write on the world wide web after all. I am perfectly okay with anyone in the world coming to have a look at what I have to say. I know full well that I am not the best writer in the world, but I am confident enough in my abilities to allow others to have a peak.
I suppose this all just boils down to making sure that you have the right amount of confidence and respect for your own work. Being a little humble never hurt anyone either.
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
13 Jun 11
I think that you described both extremes rather well. You do kind of want to fall into the middle of things. Where you are at ease enough to post whatever you write where the world can see it and judge it, for good, bad, or indifference. However not enough where you think that you are a great writer and obviously no one has any right to tell you that you are doing rather wrong. Trust me if you're writing on the Internet, then your ego is going to get punctured rather quickly if you go in with that attitude. That is just a wrong one to have. There are two extremes that are both pretty bad in their own ways. Thanks for responding. Its appreciated. Have a nice day.
@KingLobster (219)
• United States
13 Jun 11
I think you are right to say that you can certainly take a shot to the ego when you start writing on the internet. It can even be downright intimidating. I do not have a big ego with regards to my writing, but even I have felt miffed before when an assignment has been rejected. I do not feel this way because I am so certain of the quality of my writing, but rather because of the fact that this can feel like a downright rejection of me as a person. I know that this is not really the case, but there are certain circumstances where it can feel like that. Sometimes, you just have to pick yourself back up and dust yourself off. Things will always get better.
@EdnaReyes (2622)
• Philippines
1 Dec 11
I think there's a big misconception of the word critic here. When we say critic, it does not mean criticizing and plain seeing the faults and flaws. Critic is analyzing and assessing the whole content or piece. It is incorporated to pinpoint the good against the good point. If all critics are to see the bad, I think there will be piece of art or beautiful creation by artists just the same in the manner of written arts.Critics provide inspirations and the will to make better the next time as once recent work is just as good as his last.
@debs90 (547)
• India
13 Jun 11
Yeah...this is right. If the writer himself don't like his creation then it is almost certain that other people won't like it. But I have another point in my mind. One of my friend is a writer. He criticizes his articles and he is a perfectionist. So, he continuously rejects his articles till it becomes perfect. In this manner he loses valuable time and hampers his career.
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
13 Jun 11
I think that there are many levels of this as well. There are some writer's who are happy enough with what they are writing until about three days or a week or whatever after it is published. Then they start finding a great deal of fault with it. Then there are the types of writers, where nothing gets out, because they are not satisfied. That is really the worst possible version of a writer being their own worst critic. Still if we think everything is perfect, then we will never improve. Thanks for responding. Its appreciated. Have a nice day.
@Allieis (45)
•
15 Jun 11
This is the same for all creative people - Artists, furniture makers, potters, and artists are all their own worst critic. They see things from their own point of view, they know at which point they struggled and in the end settled, knowing that it could have been different.
Others see the finished product, the creator sees the faults.
I am not sure if 'should' is something to impose, as the creator automatically 'is' the worst critic.
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
16 Jun 11
Points that are well founded. For those creating anything, we see the entire thing all of the way and we have a vision of what should be in the end. Often times after we are done, that vision does change rather slightly, because of things that might have gotten thrown off track during the entire process along the way. For everyone like you mentioned, whether they be writers, artists, musicians, or really anyone who has done anything creative throughout the time.
Often times, we tend to see the entire process, others might see a few bits of it, but our thoughts in our head all of the way through, every step of the way, are only shared by us. Therefore, we are going to see something like this every step away, and we are going to get rather frustrated when something does not turn out as we think it should be. That is really often times what takes place, and we often are our worst critics in that way. Thanks for responding. Its appreciated. Have a nice day.
@silentmedia (109)
• Philippines
13 Jun 11
I agree with this! Even outside of writing, we can be our own harshest critic. It's just like saying I am my harshest critic. :)
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
13 Jun 11
In many ways this is true as who better to see our own flaws in everything than ourselves. I mean, who sees every minute of our life, both the good and the bad? Well that would be us. Who has an insight in our writing process, every step of the way? That would be as well. People who write are their harshest critics, people who do art as well, people who sing, pretty much every thing in life. In fact really, life in general, we tend to be rather critical about that in many ways. So yeah, it helps us keep sharp. Thanks for responding. Its appreciated. Have a nice day.
