Is My Writing Good Enough? Am I? (A Love Letter)
You're not asking the right question
Mindset, motivation and inspiration for novelists—with a dash of instruction about writing craft added in. There’s no one approach to writing that works for everyone, but I can help you find what works for you. Subscribe (free or paid) to get the fuel you need for your writing career.
Hello lovelies,
Am I good enough? Is my writing good enough?
This question is at the heart of everything we do, both the writing and the publishing. If the writing isn’t good enough, we’ll never get published. And, honestly, have you ever met a writer who didn’t want to get published? No shame there, because writing is communication, a loop between writer and reader. Without publication, a vital part of that communication is denied.
But I digress. Many clients, students, friends and writers I know only casually have asked me, am I good enough? But that’s a subjective question. The publishing world is totally subjective. So is the taste of readers. My good may be something you groan over. And vice-versa. (Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, I’m looking at you. I know only one other human who made it a DNF like me.) Honestly, there are so many permutations on what is good enough that it’s useless to speculate. So, if you ask me I won’t give you a definitive answer.
I will say this. I sometimes read manuscripts that are written by new writers who have put a first draft on the page and done nothing more with it. No subsequent drafts, no revising, no editing, no rewriting. I state unequivocally that those manuscripts are not good enough. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be, with the afore-mentioned subsequent drafts and rewriting and editing. Getting eyes on the work—when it is ready and not before—is vital too.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most of you reading this newsletter fall into that gray area of being way more advanced than the above example. Most of you are writing work that is of publishable quality. But most of you are also not quite certain of the quality of your writing. And sometimes that question, am I good enough, hits you in your heart and you let it stop you because you think the answer is no.
But don’t.
Because, while you might not be good enough now, if you keep writing, if you keep reading, if you keep working at it, you will be soon. So the real question is, will I keep at it? Do I love this thing I do called writing enough to keep at it? To do it, even when I get rejected over and over again? To do it when the scene I’m working on just will not come together? To do it when friends and family suggest that maybe I should find a different way to spend my time?
If you answer yes to that, you’re good enough. Or you will be soon. As long as you are still writing.
Love, light, and good writing,
Charlotte
P.S. I love your comments! Tell me about your writing, ask me questions, tell me a good story. I’m here for it.
Books
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. This is a fantasy novel replete with orcs, gnomes and succubi, not usually my thing but the description was so charming I bit. Plus, the author is local. Viv, an orc, gives up her sword to open a coffee shop in a town by a river where nobody has ever heard of coffee. This book is just pure fun. Update: I loved it. And I have since learned that this is considered a “cozy fantasy.” Had no idea that genre existed.
Now I am casting about for my next read. I have several I should be reading but I’m not feeling them. Last night I stood at my bookshelf and told my hub, “I have nothing to read.” He almost spit out his beer. With good reason. Because our bookshelves are crammed full. But nothing appealed to me. I welcome suggestions! What are you reading right now?
Watching
Falling for Figaro. This movie popped up on our Netflix home page and they had me at small village in Scotland. American hedge fund manager Millie has the perfect life in London, money, hot and committed significant other, everything. But she harbors a secret dream to be an opera singer. And one day she follows it, to study in the aforementioned small village in Scotland with a former diva. (Played by the amazing Joanna Lumley, who also played an evil-ish woman in Fool Me Once. She’s actually Dame Joanna Lumley!) Fun, light rom-com and lots of opera singing (dubbed in from real opera singers). We enjoyed it.
All the Light You Cannot See. Intense-much? Yes. I read the novel by Anthony Doerr years ago and wouldn’t let my biz partner Debbie choose it as our book-in-common for our France workshop because of said-intensity. But we started watching this mini-series and were blown away. Set in WW2, it’s about a blind young woman, Marie-Laure, and a German soldier and so much more. Of special note is that both the actresses who play Marie-Laure, both as a five-year-old (ish) girl and young woman are blind in real life. (Hint to France workshop attendees: you’ll be reading this novel.)
Articles and Resources
How to write a love scene. I wrote this for my new feature, the mid-week extra. This week it’s free, because I posted it on Valentine’s Day. But moving forward these mid-week extras will be for paid subscribers. The plan is for these posts to focus on craft. (But you know me, if the spirit moves me, I do something else. But I promise they will be useful to you in some way.)
Don’t forget that Kevin Johns is starting a new program called the Story Plan Intensive. Read all about it here.
The love bubble. Also known as falling in love with your writing.
I enjoy the weekly writing prompts from Linda Parkinson-Hardman and this week she is starting a series on the hero’s journey that looks to be well worth following.
Totally fun report on booksellers going wild. It’s important for writers to understand such things.
Events
Creative writing workshops in France and Italy next year. (England is now full.) See all here. And let me just add: future you is going to be sooooo happy that you committed to a week in Céret, France, or Perugia, Italy to further your writing career and your world travels! Reply to this email if you want to learn more.
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Why thank you for the kind comment about the writing prompts :-) Interestingly, you find the same issue I have with manuscript submissions for publication, so many people send their creative endeavours as soon as they write 'the end' for the first time.
I've spent a lifetime wondering if I'm good enough - at everything. I finally decided the answer is always yes - and it's no. In my career as a teacher, I was never satisfied that I was doing it as well as I possibly could be - for every single student - on every single lesson. But I continued to strive for that benchmark day after day, after month, after year. And I now realize that my never-good-enough attitude is what made me a passable/mostly successful teacher. Now, as a writer, I know the answer is still yes and no. I may not be good enough, but I'm going to keep doing it anyway. As my wise sister is fond of saying, "Who's gonna stop me?"
Thank you, Charlotte, for always making me think - and always encouraging me (all of us) to write.