The Life of a Writer
"You are only as good as the last thing you've written." Yes, people liked what you wrote today, but what about tomorrow? Will you have an idea? Will other people like it? Do you care? Will you even be able to put something up for others to read?
That statement haunts me each and every day. I struggle with self-esteem, and I pour so much of myself into my work that a negative reaction - or what's worse, a tepid reaction - can feel devastating at the time. I spend a while kicking the wall every time I get a negative response, or especially extensive corrections on a manuscript, but when I finally calm down and take a good, hard look at what other people have said about the piece, I usually find that most of what they said has at least some merit and it bears my consideration.
Writers learn by doing, and we especially learn from feedback. And learning is a continuous practice. We are always thinking about the next piece and the next one and the piece after that. The day we stop learning is the day we cease to practice our craft well. Yes, I still struggle with self-esteem about my writing, and, yes, I will continue to kick the wall. But if I am only as good as the last thing I've written, I will work as hard as I can to make that a kick-ass piece and a double kick-ass for the one after that.
Here's to the writing life!!