/lit/ - Literature

This is one of the things that makes good writers good. They surpass their fears.
If something scares you to write then it's probably the right thing to write.

>>13802387
Can you explain more clearly? Wouldn't catching myself bulllying my own work make my work seem worse?

>>13802409
With most art you literally have to succumb to the cliche co-opted by Nike: Just do it.

>>13802416
How does anybody do this then? I feel like I'm going to have an anxiety attack every time I sit in front of the keyboard, or like I said, simply just thinking up ideas.

>>13802383
I have felt the same way for a long time and basically never showed anyone anything I worked on for a long time. Just this week I finished two poems I felt pretty good about - for some reason, I just decided I didn't care if they sucked and I wanted to share them. I ended up sharing them with two friends who are writers whose opinions I really respect (and whose criticisms I was afraid of).

They both really liked both of the poems and helped me make them even better.

>>13802416
this is correct.

Have you tried being less of a fucking faggot?

>>13802440
Have you tried being less of a fucking faggot?

You sound very young, OP. People will criticize you whatever you do. Unless you want to go through life being afraid of shadows, you have to learn to be indifferent to it.

>>13802450
Are you patronizing? Im 22.

First, realize that you are of inherit value and deserving of love, from yourself, from God, and others, no matter what. Nothing anyone can say or do to you can ever take that away.

Second, go easy on yourself, lower your standards for what is acceptable in writing (you can always edit it later is a motto I like). Adopt a "fuck it" attitude towards your fears and when it comes to what people might think. Go for what you feel is authentic and meaningful to you and think "fuck it" when fear starts to appear. Embrace it.

Third, realize that other people are not above you (or below you). They are just people, and really, if someone doesn't like your work - who the fuck are they even? They're just a person, and really, if they're so great why are they a bully? It's because they feel a lack that they try to bring others down and it has much, much more to do with them than it will ever have to do with you. So move and continue to write.

Fourth, never give up even in the face of bad days. I realize the inner critic can be harsh and some days will feel like defeats, but take that in stride and just accept that it comes with the territory. People have bad days at work, in relationships, within their families. t's a part of life, and writing is no exception. If you really feel bad just write about it.

On the more.practical side here's what you can do to get some confidence:

1. Write something and submit it someone cheap Upwork.com for them to edit

2. Have someone you know irl read something you wrote. This can be more unnerving that a total stranger, but it will help.

3. Join a writing group. Ideally one in your area, but if that's not reasonable for you go online. There you will find people dedicated to helping each other out and you will all have a common goal of getting more.

4. Have a writer friend who you share your work with. This can be done at writer meetups, in writing groups, online. Just find someone who you can share your work with.

5. Make a blog, post your writing, and share it on social media.

A good philosophy that covers this fear of what people might think of your work is to aggressively share it. When doing these things you will probably be afraid that people will call you or think you're a retard, a faggot, a weirdo - whatever insult you can think of - but once you actually do it and put it out there it becomes funny actually. And you realize there was really nothing to be afraid of in the first place.


Good luck OP

>>13802457
I wasn't trying to be condescending, I didn't know your age. You seemed young from your post, that's all.

>>13802383
>criticism for the sake of "bullying"
You can become good enough a learner to learn even from shitposts. Have confidence in that. And more often, these critics you're worried about are just naive undergrads who think more about writing good-looking criticism than criticism that's actually good:

https://youtu.be/cOQhVMxzCqs

Note that this same channel has a video titled "why your highschool anime art is bad" (or something), so it understands both sides of your struggle. I too understand that it's hard to come up with a valid critique process. On the one hand, you don't get to cite Joyce as an excuse for every run-on sentence, but on the other hand you don't want to risk telling Picasso to go back to the basics. But then, how do you know either way?

But of course you know either way. There is no god of art. Just you, and some other losers, being bad. So when you're critiquing say, your description of an object, ask yourself: am I just making my description look good, or am I trying to describe the object well? That's the sincerity test. Same goes for writing criticism: am I trying to make criticism that looks good, that zings, or criticism that works well? And you will know the answer. There's no way for you not to. Go outside, play pretend, take a load off. Go LARPing even, throw some thunderbolts. I'd offer rub your shoulders if I could, anon.

>>13802468
It's ok. I'm not the best at phrasing my emotions, especially when I'm as afraid as I am right now. I know the standards here are very high.

No one will ever care about your writing enough to criticize it, let alone bully you over it.

>>13802480
>>13802465
Sorry I didn't respond to you guys. I saw your posts, thank you.

>>13802488
Why are you so pessimistic?

>>13802511
because it's the evil he knows

>>13802383
You sound very sweet. But don't worry about what some idiots on the internet think. Share your writing with somebody's who opinions you actually care about. Or, if you do post it here, learn how to differentiate between constructive criticism and just anons messing with you.

>>13802430
Do it. Have an anxiety attack. This is why a lot of writers drink.
I have panic attacks all the time writing.

>>13802383
>I'm afraid to write anything of meaning because of criticism, but not good criticism, criticism for the sake of "bullying" for no apparent reason. I even have this problem just thinking in my own head.
Write under a pseudonym and don't read any reviews. Alternatively, you could bite the bullet and become stronger because of it.

(btw don't believe any criticism you receive on /lit/. 4chan(nel) is an inherently negative place and you're just making yourself vulnerable by posting material here).

>>13802488
Thanks, senpai. This right here is my biggest fear and mental roadblock to writing. To not even meet the prerequisites for being forgotten in the first place. If I believe this to be true, then the act of writing loses all purpose for me past personal pleasure. The only reason why I'm working on my current novel is how much I wish someone else would've written it that way I could just read it instead of having to be the one to write it.

Just make it so good that they really can’t say anything

>>13802662
What is it about, anon?

>>13802662
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF4DisuHq2A

>>13802383
You're so pure and precious, OP. I want to hold you and tell you everything will be okay.

>>13802430
Start with something easy and unconsequential like how you day was or what's your earliest childhood memory. Strive for precision in expression and honesty in assessment. It will be shit at first (and for a very long time). The trick is understanding how shit it is, while realizing you're not ontologically uncapable of doing better. Ironically the secret to being less shit is keep churning shit while desperately trying to make it not shit.

>>13802430
Would you rather be safe and never do it, or be scared and do it anyway?

>>13802457
Tbf that is an anxiety that most young writers have because they genuinely don't know how good they are. They are usually people who were the smartest ones in their English class and who have been writing in some form or another since they were 12-13. I think that most of these people have simply never faced any unbiased, external criticism before and so are naturally afraid that they may not be a prodigy or as good as they think they are.

>>13802383
Post your work anywhere but 4chan and you'll be fine

>>13802383
Critique for the sake of bulkyingrg actually doesn't exist on 4chan
Women, protestants, optimists, basedboys, people who drink Starbucks, and other assorted members of the spiritual peasantry think 4chan is a cruel place for needless malice but it's actually the most benevolent and altruistic community you will find anywhere. Since it's anonymous there are no social motivations for saying things, only entertaining, virtuous, or practical statements are encouraged here and you'all encounter genuine goodwill and compassion in its severely abrasive and unpleasant honesty than you will in a normies insincere conversation. Not even being ironic.

>>13804546
>Since it's anonymous there are no social motivations for saying things
Well people still say things, so lets see what motives you list

>only entertaining
To who? Is entertaining criticism always good? I get the feeling a lot of people on 4chan just like reading their own posts, and all that implies. It's worth reading cautiously I think, as is even self-criticism.

>>13804546
Ideally, yes, this is how 4chan would function. But it doesn't take much lurking to realize that the idiots on this site are as addicted to yous as reddit users are to upvotes. Even on a """smart""" board like /lit/.