How to keep self-talk positive?

[Fighterman481]

Hey, so I've been wondering what people do to keep their self-talk positive when it comes to their writing.
I'm not talking about how to best receive criticism from others or anything, but how to avoid negative lines of thinking that, perhaps, are just completely in your head.
Stuff like comparing your work to that of professional writers and feeling down that it's not as good, or just feeling like your stuff doesn't ever come out as well as it feels in your head.
Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but I'm genuinely curious if others have this issue and what they do about it if so. What are everyone's thoughts on the subject?

 

[ChronicleCrawler]

I write then looks at the comment after a few days, no comment= no problem, good comment = happy, criticism = feels bad but look at it constructively ( but still feels a bit bad). Writing is never easy nowadays, it's not for the faint-hearted especially when the internet is already all over the world. My suggestions?

1. Be yourself man, your not them - your not those professional writers. You are you. You must understand that they didn't receive instant success. They also worked their ass off and burned a lot of their time to be where they are now. Well, try to compare yourself before you even decided to write to now- when you're already writing. You're your own enemy. Try to best not those professional writers, try to best yourself instead.

2. Take steady steps and learn from mistakes - It really feels bad when someone tells you that your writing is not good enough. During these times, I tend to ask myself what went wrong. I literally ask or pm those guys what could I do to improve my craft. Some spend time to teach me some don't and play troll. I create some list of their advice, then look at it from time to time to remind myself.

3. Learn and Learn more - I always try to learn new things. I learned to look into some writing blogs and advises. Well, it really helped.

Hope that helps.

 

[bananapink]

Hey, so I've been wondering what people do to keep their self-talk positive when it comes to their writing.
I'm not talking about how to best receive criticism from others or anything, but how to avoid negative lines of thinking that, perhaps, are just completely in your head.
Stuff like comparing your work to that of professional writers and feeling down that it's not as good, or just feeling like your stuff doesn't ever come out as well as it feels in your head.
Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but I'm genuinely curious if others have this issue and what they do about it if so. What are everyone's thoughts on the subject?

While it is hard to avoid negative criticism entirely, you can always make yourself resistant to it. Comparing yourself with the pro will only make you the biggest detractor for your growth. It's normal to feel down at times, if you are a beginner remember that you still have plenty of rooms for improvement. Learn to separate rubbish comments to those well-intended ones. You like writing right? Then just do it. Remember your inspirations. Pour all that ideas in your head. Each of us has our own style, if you keep looking left and right, eventually, you are going to lose your individuality.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Hey, so I've been wondering what people do to keep their self-talk positive when it comes to their writing.
I'm not talking about how to best receive criticism from others or anything, but how to avoid negative lines of thinking that, perhaps, are just completely in your head.
Stuff like comparing your work to that of professional writers and feeling down that it's not as good, or just feeling like your stuff doesn't ever come out as well as it feels in your head.
Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but I'm genuinely curious if others have this issue and what they do about it if so. What are everyone's thoughts on the subject?

Well...i don't feel bad about criticism as much as i am bewildered by it. Why? For example my most popular novel. My sister the villainess. You see, its a crack fic of the highest order, a parody, a mish mash of an Internet troll MC and memes. People love the chaos. Others hate it. Call it shit. Cringe. Waste of potential because they expected an average otome game story like Villainess Brother Reincarnation.

But i don't mind the shit talk. Because the story wasn't meant to be taken seriously. It's for fun. It's for going wild.

So i just didn't get why people felt so personally offended. To me it wasn't really worth the time to hate on, i'd just go on with my day.

As for my other novels i don't get much feedback, and what i do is always positive.

So i never felt criticism for the first novel was even deserved, considering i myself know it's a shit show and was MEANT to be wacky and exaggerated. So. I couldn't feel bad. While with my others, again not much feedback.

My advice is to act REALLY arrogant. Like, "that junior dares criticize this Elder's work...merely a frog at the bottom of the well, not knowing the work of a true artist!" Or "well I'm a misunderstood genius ahead of my time so of course these fops can't appreciate my work"

It builds shamelessness.. Thick skin. And you'll be fine. Well, don't be averse to CONTRUCTIVE criticism tho. Just the cunts who call the work shit without even trying to help or justify their reasons

 

[Kotohood]

I have a poster of why I write hang up on the wall.

Every time I see it, I get the energy to go on. For my past self!

 

[Ace_Arriande]

Practice positive thinking. Force yourself to say positive things about yourself / your writing even if you don't believe it. Focus on any and all compliments that you are given. Whenever you're rereading/editing your work, make sure to point out to yourself every single little thing that you're happy with. For every negative thought that you might think, try to force yourself to think two positive thoughts. The only way to really change this, since you're talking about your own thoughts and not criticism, is to try and modify how you think.

 

[Rellawing]

No one is perfect. The biggest flaw anyone has when they try to compare themselves with others is why they can't instantly be that good. Sure, there are geniuses, but 9 times out of 10 probably they went through something and you never knew about it.

Writing what you love for yourself foremost is probably helpful.

If you don't think you've improved over time, you probably don't have the right perspective on it, so you can't be the best judge.

If you want to write, and you have a passion for it, then do it. If others love your ideas they'll let you know in one way or another. Others will tell you exactly why they don't. I wouldn't necessarily just say positive things about yourself, because you might develop an ego problem. Too little ego or too much are equally problematic.

You need to take a Buddhist approach. Don't need, don't want, just live, just do. These things lead to negativity. It can also lead to drive and self-betterment, but I'd say more often it leads to issues. Finding true harmony and loving yourself is probably the most ideal thing. <3

Do your thing!

 

[Llamadragon]

Honestly... self-positive talk is a lie.

The trick to it is... so is the self-harming talk. "I suck", "I will never make it", "no one could ever like what I write". It's just as BS as the "I can do it if I think positively". The truth might be that you're not a professional author. It might be that no one reads what you write. The truth might be that people dislike it if they do. But "reader x doesn't like this" does not mean "I should suffer because I had the audacity to give my writings away for free and it wasn't professional standard". That's a lie you learned to tell yourself when you were a kid and adults guilted, scolded or shamed you into obediently doing your homework.

You want real self-positive talk? Look for the truths you like. Don't make stuff up even if it's nice stuff.

 

[gaylolis]

I think about my anime waifus.

Seeing them all saying ganbare, I think I can feel better about not doing much.

 

[IvyVeritas]

I decided to become a writer when I read an actual published novel, in my favorite genre, that had made it to the New York Times bestseller list and was above a 4.5 on Amazon with hundreds of reviews...and it was absolutely horrible, as if the author had never met an actual human before, and didn't know how they act or talk.

I thought to myself, "Hey, I can write something that bad." And so I do. I'm not out to write the next great literary novel, just stories that some people want to read. And if other people don't want to read them, that's okay too. Different stories appeal to different people.

(Though I like to think that even my early efforts have been better than the book that prompted this whole adventure.)

 

[Fighterman481]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll be sure to try it! I think some really good ideas have been proposed, so I really do appreciate everyone's suggestions! :)