I'm feeling really depressed. I'm going to copy-paste a post from my Xanga onto here.
I am sitting here, wearing a blanket as a cloak because it is so freakin' cold in my house, and I am trying to write a short story. You have no idea how insanely difficult this is, and how depressing the end result may be.The thing is that there will always be somebody better than you. When you think about it, you realize it is true. You will never be the best at anything. The only place you can be the best is in elementary school and that doesn't count. It is really depressing. I can write a short story and I can think it is good. However, I will compare it to someone else's and I'll be like, "Wow, this is a piece of crap," and not want to write anymore. I don't know if you understand how mentally taxing that is, to always know you're going to be in second place...or in third or fourth or last.
I skimmed through a fantasy-based book written by a guy about my age and I was blown away by how good it was. Fantasy is my favoirte genre about which to write, and I cannot help but compare myself to his writing now. My stuff is shit in comparison. And I'm not just being hard on myself and it's not like this guy has a ton of experience writing. My work looks like a fifth grader's compared to his stuff.
This news makes me feel...I don't know. Like I'm a failure, I guess. I used to be proud of my writing, as it was incredibly good in comparison to my peers. Not anymore. Though not any fault of my friend's, if I allow the one who owns the book to read my writing, he will automatically judge it by the book written by said writer.
What's the point? Is there any point to life if everyone else can do what you can, only better? I study other writers' works and examine how they describe the setting, how they make their characters, how they incite the sensation of excitement with only words on a piece of paper, and yet my writing has none of it. I suppose I could be a loser and nearly copy others' writing to make mine better, but that would make me suck as a person.
Is there a point?
oh yeah well i have a phychotic mind and dont stop until i know ive won so back off unless you want my leigon of evil to take you down 'boi'
oh what a kwinky dink i forgot to tell you who my legion of evil is
simon cowell
slade wilson
richard nixon
the borg
and the green goblin
so put that in your pipe and smoke it
SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!
Feceman: Don't worry bud, I used to feel the exact same way until I realized, people's opinions are jsut that, opinions. Everyone thinks J.R. Tolkien is the shit and a half, but I absoloutly despise his writing. I mean, have you ever READ his books? They are boring beyond belief. Not only that, he wrote LOTR for the hell of it, so what makes you think something you write for the hell of it won't turn out to be one of the best selling books of all time. I mean, look at the bible. That thing is one boring ass mofo, and that IS the best selling book of all time.
Don't worry about comparing yourself to people, just do it cause you feel like it. Write more often and you'll get better, look for criticisim so you can find out what people dislike. But most importantly, develop your own style. I can't stress this enough. Screw what other people do, you should write how you want to write, and I'm sure you'll find someone who likes it. I've found tons of people who hate my writing, and some that do. It all comes down to 3 things;
1) It's your writing, if someone doesn't like it, that doesn't mean its no good.
2) Your style is going to be different, and thats what makes number 1 occur. You can't just copy someone elses style or else you'll just be seen as another face in the crowd. Stand out and be different.
3) If you write like Grey Fox, throwing all care for punctuation, spelling and overall comprehensability to the wind, you won't get far. You don't have to be a grammar Nazi, but its gotta be at least 80% understandable to be taken really seriously. (You obviously know this)
This isn't just for F-Man, this is for everyone who has ever felt their writing wasn't good enough.
[B]GRAAAHHHH!!![/B]
GRAAAHHHH!!! THE BEAST HAS AWAKENED!!!. NATAKU, GREY FOX, STAND BEFORE ME SO THOU SHALL FACE THE BEAST 'S SMITING WRATH.
BOTH OF YOU HAVE ANGERED THE BEAST. IF YOU BOTH DO NOT STOP THIS ANGRY BICKERING AND HATEFEST, I WILL BANISH YOU FROM THIS THREAD. I THE BEAST AM PUNISHING YOU BOTH AS OF NOW.
NATAKU YOUR PUNISHEMBNT FROM THE BEAST IS THAT YOU MUST REMOVE YOUR SIGNATURE OF PEOPEL WHO NEED TO DIE, AND NEVER AGAIN POST SOMETHING SO HATEFUL AS LONG AS MY P***** OFF SELF REMAINS.
GREY FOX, YOUR PUNISHMENT IS TO START USING GRAMMATICLE( IS THAT EVEN A WORD?) SENTANCES, AND YOU MUST STOP POSTING STUPID THINGS!!. YES THATS RIGHT, BEFORE YOU EVER POST ANYHTING I THE BEAST WANT YOU TO ASK YOURSELF IF IT SOUNDS STUPID.
I AM THIS CLOSE YOU TWO. I'M ON THIN ICE HERE. NEXT TIME YOU BOTH p*** ME OFF I AM TEMPORARILY BANISHING YOU, AND YOU MUST MAKE A CHOCOBO FILLED SIGNATURE PIC WORTHY OF THE BEAST
Fox, you're awesome. You've listened to the abuse thrown at you and thought about why it's happening. The people angry with you hardly know you- they haven't been able to read your posts- but most people in your situation wouldn't realize that. They'd just think, man, these people are real @ssholes. Instead you thought about what they're saying, what they're feeling, and why- and you realized that you've been rude to them, too, by posting carelessly.
I wish they hadn't been so harsh, but apparently you can take it.
And by the way, you may want to try nodding coolly at Nataku from a distance.
Nataku- that picture- WTF? That kill list- yeh, Grey Fox disrespected many people here with his persistent non-use of grammar, but he showed you respect in admitting it; and he said he'd work at it. Robo's right, at this point you and Mane will be disrespecting the community more if you continue.
NOW, before we lose this thread, let's all take a step back, slowly.
Re: [B]GRAAAHHHH!!![/B]
Originally posted by Robo-Chocobo
[B]
NATAKU YOUR PUNISHEMBNT FROM THE BEAST IS THAT YOU MUST REMOVE YOUR SIGNATURE OF PEOPEL WHO NEED TO DIE, AND NEVER AGAIN POST SOMETHING SO HATEFUL AS LONG AS MY P***** OFF SELF REMAINS.
[/B]
Shut up. It's a list of people that I need to kill, not of people that need to die. Pfft. I'll be as hateful as I want, and right now, I hate you. Shut the hell up with this 'the beast' crap. What are you going to do? Ban me? Go ahead, I'll live.
Originally posted by Sarsaparilla
[B]MWAHAHAHAAA SYMBIOTICA CANT TYPE LIKE GREY FOX "OH HEY BAD S YOU AND FEVER WANT TO BE HEROS IN MY NEW FANFIC THAT IM CREATING IN MY PSYCHOTIC LITTLE MIND BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH"
[hangs head in shame] Yes, it is true... I don't do the No Punctuation/Incoherent style really well.
I think the thing here is that people are actually pretty willing to help out those who arrive with a lack of knowledge. What's annoying everyone is that they've been asked [basically] "How can I write better?" by a certain individual, they've shared many ways to improve, and then that advice was.... totally ignored.
Then they lost patience, a flamewar breaks out, etc etc. I cannot really blame the flamewarriors. Personally, I'm not mad at the offender [like I AM mad at that "Maelstrom" person over in Mane's "OMG!" thread.... that person really, really ticked me OFF] but sheesh - speaking rhetorically - you know, if you ask for advice, and you get it, how 'bout acting on it? What is the point of consulting experts if you're going to ignore their advice?