All Hallow’s Eve approaches and the whispers continue. “You’re so good!” “You’re a genius!” “I love what you’re doing!”
But can you believe them? Should you? Who are these people, really? What has replaced them?
Yes, it seems like your friends love what you write, but have they all been replaced by alien pods? Do they really think that you’re a good writer?
Yes, they probably do. But that won’t still the doubts that these whispers instill.
Let me tell you how to rid yourself of this bugaboo, if it’s not already too late: accept their praise and then ignore it.
Your friends and family are exactly that: your loved ones. It’s wonderful that they accept you as a writer and artist. And it doesn’t matter one bit. Accept their praise, but look to your colleagues, to other writers and critics, and listen to what they say. They’ll tell you the truth. When they tell you that something is good you can believe them. And when they tell you that something you’ve written isn’t up to par, listen.
As an artist, it’s more rewarding to receive praise from people who challenge you.
Let friendly voices whisper praise. But beware.
They’re already here! Your next!
The Scary Thoughts For Writers: Your Friends Lie To You About How Good You Are by Randy Murray, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.