So I just got ANOTHER hate mail from some user, saying how my writing sucks and that I shouldn't even try anymore. And usually that doesn't really effect me too much - it hurts a little, but I can't let things like that get in the way. They're probably just a troll anyway and haven't even read anything I wrote. But this email was different. It was from a B&A regular, and I won't say names since I'm not asking this question to rat them out, but what they said...kinda hurt. A lot. I think this regular (let's just call them "L") is a fantastic writer, and sometimes I even go off of L's work to better my own writing. So basically, I really respect L, but in this email L pretty much shot me down, saying how writing probably wasn't in the cards for me and with that type of style I don't have any chance of getting published. It completely shattered any confidence in my writing that I somehow scrapped up, and now I can't even get myself to write. All of it sounds...just utterly horrible. It's like all of sudden I hate everything I write, and I KNOW that it's just because of this one email, but I can't get back to my previous way of thinking.
And, well, it got me thinking that maybe L's right. Because if I let one email effect my writing THAT much, then it just...seems silly to even consider writing as a profession. Also, I ask a lot, a lot, of questions on here asking for opinions on something I've written, or a recent plot I came up with, and if there's ONE person that says it's not very good, then I completely second guess myself and I have to ask it a few more times to regain confidence. And with all this combined, I'm realizing that I'm not really writing for myself - it's more like I'm writing for others, and that's no way to write.
But I don't know. I really did love writing before all this happened. I don't know if I really WANT to quit, but is there really any point if I have zero confidence in my writing and have to constantly ask on here for opinions? I can't even write the plot unless I KNOW others actually like it.
(sigh) I don't really know what to do B&A. Should I just give up, since it seems like there's not really a point anymore? Advice?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read all this.
And, well, it got me thinking that maybe L's right. Because if I let one email effect my writing THAT much, then it just...seems silly to even consider writing as a profession. Also, I ask a lot, a lot, of questions on here asking for opinions on something I've written, or a recent plot I came up with, and if there's ONE person that says it's not very good, then I completely second guess myself and I have to ask it a few more times to regain confidence. And with all this combined, I'm realizing that I'm not really writing for myself - it's more like I'm writing for others, and that's no way to write.
But I don't know. I really did love writing before all this happened. I don't know if I really WANT to quit, but is there really any point if I have zero confidence in my writing and have to constantly ask on here for opinions? I can't even write the plot unless I KNOW others actually like it.
(sigh) I don't really know what to do B&A. Should I just give up, since it seems like there's not really a point anymore? Advice?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read all this.