A Writing Setback
You may recall a recent article discussing a YouTube video that trashed the movie Men in Black International. I chose to write about this criticism not because I disliked the movie but because the review revealed a significant plot problem in one of my books.
What about the people who were part of that movie? I bet they were not impressed with that YouTube video. But it was not always that way. They were optimistic at the film’s launch and felt crushed when it did not perform. The YouTube video added to their anguish by explicitly describing the film’s failures. To add insult to injury, the video generated a profit for the YouTube creator, but the movie failed to make a profit.
Well, everybody involved in the film moved on. Hopefully, they will learn from their mistakes, and their following projects will be better. In life, the painful lessons are often the most important.
In another article, I confessed that writing these articles is a form of low-budget therapy. So… Time to eat some crow. This article is going to be “open therapy.” Four days ago, I received edits from a professional editor. They included a detailed report on several issues. I have severe plot, character, logic, and grammar problems. To make matters worse, they were fundamental issues that were difficult to fix without a total rewrite. To further pile on the pain, I now know these flaws were also present in my other books.
This mountain of criticism was a lot to confront, and I stopped self-editing for a few days to reflect. I was depressed, and it is now challenging to write this article, and editing has become a miserable chore.
I again viewed the Men in Black International YouTube video and wondered what the people who were part of the movie thought about the criticism. I suspect having flaws publicly pointed out was much worse because the result was very public. Having my flaws pointed out by one person was the only bright spot in my sea of self-pity.
I have had many setbacks during my writing adventure and even considered closing this chapter in my life. (Ha, a writing joke!) I often remind myself that a primary life goal is to start a business, and writing takes much away from that effort.
Looking in the mirror and seeing the face of failure is difficult. “Your best is not good enough.” Of course, it is easy to deny my problems. I do not have an English degree; writing is not my career, and I went into this project knowing I would never be able to compete with the great authors.
That’s enough self-pity. How am I going to salvage this situation? I have failed many times in my life and unquestioningly developed a recovery technique. I will gather all the information, analyze it, and form a plan. Sometimes, I talk to people about the issue but typically hunker down and work on my problems in solitude. Hence, I took a bike ride today. Yes, it helped.
For this problem, I will fix what can be fixed and ignore the other issues. The main criticism concerns my weak characters and plot. There is not a lot I can do about that. Learn from my mistakes and try harder in the future. After all, this is life, and it is reasonable to expect issues, failures, and colossal setbacks.
An author writes the story they want to tell. It might be pretentious, arrogant, weak, and unrealistic. However, my story came from my heart, and I based the characters on people I have met. On my bike ride, I came to a conclusion. After all that stuff the editor pointed out, I still like my plot and characters. They mean something to me; if I can make that happen with only one other person, I have succeeded.
I certainly appreciate my core flaws. The identified flaws will take a lot of work to fix, but I never give up on a dream without a fight, even if the dream is unrealistic.
You’re the best -Bill
December 25, 2019 Updated November 01, 2024
Well, everybody involved in the film moved on. Hopefully, they will learn from their mistakes, and their following projects will be better. In life, the painful lessons are often the most important.
In another article, I confessed that writing these articles is a form of low-budget therapy. So… Time to eat some crow. This article is going to be “open therapy.” Four days ago, I received edits from a professional editor. They included a detailed report on several issues. I have severe plot, character, logic, and grammar problems. To make matters worse, they were fundamental issues that were difficult to fix without a total rewrite. To further pile on the pain, I now know these flaws were also present in my other books.
This mountain of criticism was a lot to confront, and I stopped self-editing for a few days to reflect. I was depressed, and it is now challenging to write this article, and editing has become a miserable chore.
I again viewed the Men in Black International YouTube video and wondered what the people who were part of the movie thought about the criticism. I suspect having flaws publicly pointed out was much worse because the result was very public. Having my flaws pointed out by one person was the only bright spot in my sea of self-pity.
I have had many setbacks during my writing adventure and even considered closing this chapter in my life. (Ha, a writing joke!) I often remind myself that a primary life goal is to start a business, and writing takes much away from that effort.
Looking in the mirror and seeing the face of failure is difficult. “Your best is not good enough.” Of course, it is easy to deny my problems. I do not have an English degree; writing is not my career, and I went into this project knowing I would never be able to compete with the great authors.
That’s enough self-pity. How am I going to salvage this situation? I have failed many times in my life and unquestioningly developed a recovery technique. I will gather all the information, analyze it, and form a plan. Sometimes, I talk to people about the issue but typically hunker down and work on my problems in solitude. Hence, I took a bike ride today. Yes, it helped.
For this problem, I will fix what can be fixed and ignore the other issues. The main criticism concerns my weak characters and plot. There is not a lot I can do about that. Learn from my mistakes and try harder in the future. After all, this is life, and it is reasonable to expect issues, failures, and colossal setbacks.
An author writes the story they want to tell. It might be pretentious, arrogant, weak, and unrealistic. However, my story came from my heart, and I based the characters on people I have met. On my bike ride, I came to a conclusion. After all that stuff the editor pointed out, I still like my plot and characters. They mean something to me; if I can make that happen with only one other person, I have succeeded.
I certainly appreciate my core flaws. The identified flaws will take a lot of work to fix, but I never give up on a dream without a fight, even if the dream is unrealistic.
You’re the best -Bill
December 25, 2019 Updated November 01, 2024
Follow me
