Comments on: I Am What I Am…

By: Heather Harper

Heather Harper — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:42:05 +0000

“The people who “get” you are the ones who matter.”

Love that. Thanks for sharing the quote.

By: Jess

Jess — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:38:48 +0000

I completely agree with this, with a corrollary of don’t write things you are absolutely not comfortable with, either, or that go against your beliefs. I’m a Christian and for a while I started writing quite erotic stuff, but it grated my conscious so badly I had to trash the manuscript. Some people would say that I’m just keeping myself chained up, but I don’t see it that way.

By: Larissa

Larissa — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:35:08 +0000

Thanks, ladies. I have to say, I spent WAY too much time worrying about what other people think when it comes to my writing, and it wasn’t until I stopped worrying that I sold. In addition, I still have moments of doubt when I get a bad review…I start thinking, well, if I did this…

Then I remember the quote. And I remember the people who love what the reviewer hated. And I realize that if I changed my writing to make the reviewer happy, I’d disappoint those who love the book the way it is.

So be yourself. It feels so much better than when you try to write inside a box!

By: Zoe

Zoe — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:05:33 +0000

It wasn’t until I started doing this that I actually wrote something I thought was worth revising. Great post

By: Margay

Margay — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:20:01 +0000

What a great post! I think I have done the same thing as you over the years - let my fear of what others will think control my writing process/content. And who could be more wise than Dr. Seuss?

By: Xidu

Xidu — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:11:54 +0000

Great post, Larissa, thank you I know I sometimes get bogged down worrying what ‘other people’ will think (actually I’m having that problem right now! But a friend has suggested a way around it, thank God), and usually it’s because of the sexual content. In fact I had a huge fight with my mother about it a while back, then she said she understood and accepted it, and then she didn’t… So these days I just don’t mention my writing to her and she doesn’t mention it either!