What if someone thinks my writing is rubbish?
Writers' Fear # 2
Welcome back to the blog in which I invite writers to share their deepest fears, then I discuss them right here on Scary Truths Of Writing. (I have since left the platform: see below.)
Shel was the very first person to comment on the blog and open up. Hooray for Shel! And here’s her comment in full:
“I’ve written an episode of a series. A comedy, I hope. I’ve been staring at it for 10 years and have done nothing. What if I submit it and someone says it’s shit? What if I’m not funny? What if I open up my soul and it remains open forever, like a wound?”
As I’ve said before, some fears are actually motivators and others are inhibitors.
Now, there’s a hint of the motivator about Shel’s fear, since it encourages her to make the project as good as possible, and isn’t taking anything for granted. Mainly, however, it’s a problem because it encourages and perpetuates the idea that something or someone can be objectively good or bad.
Unless your project literally consists of random words painted on a barn door with unmentionable substances, I can guarantee that some people will love it and some people will hate it. This is the way of the world and it’s something we creative folk must quickly come to terms with.
Any given project will be all things to all people. Believing your project to be good, then finding out it’s terrible, is not the same as believing the sky to be green, only to discover the blue truth. In art - which is what we’re all making, by the way - there is no single truth. Sure, an external consensus may form as to a project’s merits and gatekeepers will either allow it through or stand their ground. But right here, right now, as you chip away at the coal face, you can’t afford to worry about that.
Because you’re writing comedy, Shel, the above holds even more true. You definitely don’t need to tell you how subjective ‘funny’ might be. People who write comedy and/or horror are arguably braver than some (he says, in a self-aggrandising manner), because they’re both aiming for one distinct response. They live or die by whether they make the reader laugh or scream.
What matters, and I can’t stress this enough, is how much you like it. You really do have to trust your project and have faith in it.
Look back at the original spark of an idea which made the whole thing begin. That spark drove you through this project, which no doubt has entailed a great deal of effort and dedication, so clearly this thing has merit.
If you don’t think your project currently feels good enough, then that’s what subsequent drafts are for. But don’t go doubting yourself on the basis of an incorrect assumption, that something can be secretly bad without you realising. Opinions are subjective. They will differ, and differ wildly. When it comes to receiving and acting on notes, you will need to open yourself up to them and consider them. But right now, as you work, focus solely on your own assessment.
That’s all you can do.
Do your best to accept that someone, or even several or many people, will not think your project is good.
Do your very best to accept that this is okay.
Do your utmost best to accept that this doesn’t somehow degrade the objective worth of the art you have made.
Think of this as being about chemistry. One person may have chemistry with your project, while someone else may not. Only natural, right?
And let’s consider the worst case scenario - the consensus says that your project ain’t great. This won’t make your own faith in the project wrong. It may just mean that your own taste, when it comes to this particular project, isn’t mirrored by as many people as you might like.
Before you push your project into the wider world, solicit the views of three beta readers who you trust to tell you the truth. Use them as a buffer to improve the project and repeat the process as many times as feels right.
Even if you end up deciding you plain messed up with this one and went down a blind alley, turn that realisation into a positive force. Make it your business to understand what you did wrong, in order to improve. Listen to feedback and look for a consensus. Recognise your weaknesses and resolve to work on them.
Things may well be different with the next thing. So get working on that one before you push the first one out into the world.
I have now left Substack, as of Jan 2024, due to the founders’ stance on platforming Nazi content.
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Excellent piece. I needed that. Thank you, sir!